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Before I start writing about today, I suppose I should mention how things went with Maud Pie. The day after she first arrived in town was the day things really started to get better between her and the rest of my friends. By the time she left, my five friends had put together rock candy necklaces, each in their own style. I will never know how Rainbow Dash made one big chunk in the shape of a lightning bolt with three colors. That sucker was so heavy that she had trouble lifting it off the ground while hovering, although Applejack's was not much better with that big green apple shape. At least she used more than one piece to make hers. Not that Maud seemed to mind. She had no trouble wearing them all at once. I could tell when her train finally rolled into the station that she did not want to go. But we all saw her off with a smile and she promised she would come back to visit as soon as possible. I certainly hope that day is soon. We all made a good friend in that phlegmatic mare.

Now, for today... Once I was dressed and sitting at the kitchen table while Fluttershy cooked up breakfast, I happened to glance at the calendar hanging on the wall by the window. Today was the last day of the month. And it was then that I realized what day it was. "Hey, it's Nightmare Night again!"

"Mmhm. Ponyville should be well underway in getting all decorated for the big event tonight." Fluttershy replied while the hiss of frying hash browns filled the air. She then looked at me and asked, "Are you dressing up for the evening?"

"Well... I completely forgot about it, to be honest. What about you? I know you were kind of put off the idea last year, but how're you feeling now?" I asked in return, remembering how Fluttershy was not all that thrilled about the holiday to begin with. She basically had to go as a bush just to avoid looking like someone anyone could spook.

Fluttershy stayed silent for a few seconds while stirring the eggs. "Well... I think Rarity had something special planned for us. She wanted all of us to stop by her place at sundown tonight. I think she's been putting together something unique for us to wear."

"Special, huh? And for all of us? She must've been working hard behind the scenes to make sure they'd be done by tonight." I muttered while contemplating what it was Rarity could have been working on. Last year, Fluttershy went as a bush, Rainbow Dash as Daring Do, Applejack as a sheriff, Pinkie Pie as a frighteningly realistic zombie reminiscent of the ponies from Sunny Town, Rarity as a classical princess, Twilight as Solid Sparkle, and Spike...in a gimp suit. Almost forgot about that one. Do I really want to know what those two do in the library's loft on Friday nights?

Fluttershy must have noticed my awkward expression as I remembered Spike's outfit and asked, "Um... Is something wrong? You don't look so good."

"Oh, nothing... It's just that I... I just now remembered seeing Spike wearing that gimp suit last year. Uh... Kinda creepy seeing a kid wear that." I said in reply while praying that I was wrong about my suspicions.

"Oh... All right. But...um... What's a gimp suit?" Innocent little Fluttershy. I could only thank her lucky stars that she had not been exposed to such things. Although... Was it a gimp suit or just a black latex suit? Maybe I should not ask...

"Ah, forget about it, honey. What about everyone else? You think they're dressing up this year?" I asked while trying to change the subject inconspicuously.

Fluttershy began to reply while turning the stove off, "I'm not sure, really. I think Rarity had something in the works for them too. Maybe we'll be seeing them there tonight at sundown?"

By then, I was really curious. Rarity must have come up with a bunch of costumes geared towards a similar aesthetic. I decided to not think too much about what they could be so as to not spoil anything for myself by preemptively guessing their identities.

Before much longer, Scootaloo joined us at the table for breakfast... Oh, who am I kidding? On a day like today, no one would want to read anything about morning routine. I suppose I will skip ahead a bit to save time and get to more interesting events. Being a Wednesday, I had to head into work at Sugarcube Corner.

Upon stepping into the place, I recognized many familiar treats decked out in a spooky holiday style. Cupcakes and cookies were on display with orange icing and with designs made to resemble pumpkins and ghosts. And the exteriors of the town square already had lines of lights and ornaments strewn between them with food stalls already being in the process of being set up. I suppose I could go into greater detail, but I already described the Nightmare Night aesthetics last year.

"Morning, Mr. Cake. How're things looking tonight?" I asked while my boss stepped out of the kitchen and behind the front counter.

He replied in kind, "Morning, James. We've got quite a list of orders right now since we're catering all over Ponyville this evening. Pinkie Pie's already started in back with Cupcake, so... Oh, before I have the chance to forget..."

I watched while Mr. Cake pulled out and set a scroll on the counter. Judging by the seal, it had come from the royal family. "Spike dropped this off not even an hour ago. He said that it was meant for you. Not sure who it's from."

"All right then. I'll check this out and then get to work." I replied before unfurling the scroll while Mr. Cake rearranged the treats on display. I was expecting the note to have come from Luna or even Nightmare Moon since the holiday was pretty much all about them. Instead, I quickly realized who it was written by just by reading the first few words at the top.

"My dear sunshine. Have you been well? You know what today is, so I know you are well aware that Luna will be attending the Nightmare Night celebration in Ponyville tonight. I just wanted to let you know that I have decided that I will be attending as well. And I know what you are thinking. What about Nightmare Moon? Well, she seems to have something planned for this evening, but is insisting on keeping any and all details from everypony. Since this will be her first Nightmare Night since her rise to the throne alongside Luna and myself, this is going to be a very momentous event for her. Please, once she arrives, stay by her side and insure that she has a good time. I know she has absolute faith in you as her most precious friend in the world, so make certain she feels welcome tonight. Furthermore, Luna and I have decided to allow the sun to set an hour earlier than usual, so be prepared for an early start to the festivities. I will see you then, my sunshine. With love, Celestia."

I could not help but snicker as I felt myself become warm. Celestia is the only person I know who calls me that and I am the only person in the world who seems to have ever been addressed by that title. Still, I was thrilled at the thought of Nightmare Moon herself attending. That would generate quite a buzz with the locals once the Mare in the Moon herself was walking among them on the holiday dedicated to her memory. I suppose I could go into detail about what else happened before sundown, but I would rather just skip ahead to the main event. Nothing out of the ordinary... Wait. I suppose there is one event I could mention before getting to the most interesting part of the day.

Once noon rolled around, I took my mandatory lunch break and headed out the back door with Pinkie Pie to head on over to the local café. It did not take long for her to strike up a conversation. "Hey! You coming over to Rarity's tonight? I heard she's got something special ready for us!"

"She must've whipped up some custom costumes for us. I can only wonder what they might be. The costumes you girls wore last year were pretty diverse." I replied, trying to think of any clues.

"Yeah, they were! I just wish I knew about those creepy zombies in the Everfree Forest. If I knew that you already got scared by them, I would've just dressed up as Deadpool instead." She said while looking a bit uneasy and even apologetic Then again, it is not like she could have ever known about Sunny Town. I have to wonder what those poor fools are even doing right now...

"Hey, it's all right. I just wished you lifted those goggles first to let me know that was you. Hopefully whatever Rarity has planned will be a little less horrifying than what you had last year." I said with a bit of a smirk, almost chuckling at the memory. In hindsight, I am not so sure why I was so convinced that Pinkie Pie had become a zombie.

Regardless, we soon came to the café in the middle of the lunch rush. There were a couple of tables available, so we pulled up a seat. The waiter was currently preoccupied with other customers, so Pinkie Pie and I just decided to converse for a while to pass the time. "Well... Looks like the spooky decor is well underway. You think Nightmare Moon's gonna be ticked off when she finds out about this holiday?"

Pinkie Pie giggled a bit nervously. "Nah! She'll probably know it's all good clean fun... Right?"

"Maybe... Huh? Hey, look who's here." I replied while taking note of someone approaching us. With a pair of saddlebags at her sides was Mitta. "Hey there, Mitta. You want to join us?"

"I was hoping you'd say that. I'd love to grab a bite while I'm out." She replied with a smile before pulling up an unoccupied stool. "What's going on today? Everypony's setting up stalls, games, and...kind of spooky decorations all over town."

Pinkie Pie was quick to provide an explanation. "Tonight's Nightmare Night! It's a spooky holiday that's all about fun, candy, and frights!"

"Um... It doesn't sound all that fun if it's about spooky stuff..." Mitta said with a bit of a skeptical look in her eye. I suppose adding anything scary to something's description is never the best way to sell something to the ignorant.

I then tried to give my friend a more thorough explanation. "Well, there's more to it than that. Basically... Uh... I only attended it once, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm forgetting something... From what I heard, it all came about due to lingering rumors about Nightmare Moon after she was trapped in stasis within the moon a thousand years ago. People seemed to think that she still managed to return once a year on this night to devour anyone she found. Hence the costumes people wear to hide from her. But I'm guessing the scary side of the legend faded over time and it became more of a tradition all about spooks, fun, and food. Especially candy. Trust me, you'll have fun tonight."

That got much more of a smile from Mitta than anything Pinkie Pie said. "Well, I'm pretty sure Nightmare Moon has never been carnivorous... But the rest of everything sounds interesting! And I was wondering what Rarity was putting together for me and all her friends in the back room..."

"Ooh, you know what they are?! Well, tell us!" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly while almost tipping the table over towards her by propping herself up on the edge. She quickly realized what she was doing and sat back down. "I mean... Please?"

Mitta could only smile while shaking her head. "Sorry, but I've been sworn to secrecy. Rarity made it clear with me that I was to not say anything about what they are. She must be saving them for something special."

"Awww... Oh well. They're gonna be used tonight, so no biggie there." Pinkie Pie replied with only momentary disappointment. It was around that time the waiter stopped by and we placed our orders. Pinkie Pie then asked, "So, what's been up? It's been a while since you finally settled down in Ponyville, right?"

"Mmhm. I think for almost half a year... And it's just been great! I have a place to stay, I feel like I'm doing something productive whenever I'm helping Rarity, and I've got more friends than I ever dreamed of having! It's...the best thing that's ever happened to me." Mitta replied with a genuine smile, a far cry from the constant expression of misery she always showed me during our earliest encounters. Wow... I just now realized how long it has been since the day we first met.

"Glad things have been going so well for you, Mitta. Just about everypony loves living in Ponyville... Uh... Actually, I better get to the restroom. Be right back!" Pinkie Pie said before trotting away and into the café itself to use the restroom inside. Kind of awkward that she dropped that out of nowhere, but when you got to go, you got to go.

With no one else to talk to, I turned to Mitta. "So, Ponyville is pretty much everything you hoped it would be?"

Mitta nodded with a smile. "It is... Well, I actually didn't know what to expect, so my expectations weren't exactly high. But that just made Ponyville that much better... And things just change a bit every day, unlike how nothing ever changed in Sunny Town. I was so used to years of no change that daily life in Ponyville was something of a little adventure every day."

"Yeah, I guess it is. Some would probably say Ponyville is rustic and lacking in glamour compared to places like Canterlot, but they just don't know the simple beauty of a town like this. Ponyville is just simply the nicest place to live I've ever seen. Who needs more than that?" I replied while finding myself smiling as well. "Still, from the outside looking in, Sunny Town is certainly a more interesting place. It'd make for some awesome urban exploration if it wasn't so dangerous."

"Huh... Well, now that I haven't been there in a good long while... I guess it is more interesting to talk about than a place like Ponyville..." Mitta muttered while looking at nothing in particular.

It was then that I really took note of something. In hindsight... Ever since Mitta set down roots in Ponyville, I have not really talked about her all that much in my journal entries. And after everything that we had gone through over the past year... It is kind of sad. There just is not enough interesting things to write about regarding us. I turned towards Mitta while thinking on this and asked, "Hey, Mitta? Just curious, but... How have things being going between us from your eyes? Like... Have you been enjoying our friendship since settling down in Ponyville?"

My question caught her by surprise, but Mitta still soon smiled at me. "Of course! I mean, yeah. I know about your journal entries. I guess the things that happened between us involving Sunny Town were probably more journal worthy than anything that's been happening since, but... That's OK." She then smiled warmly at me and added, "James, you're the best friend I've had since Ruby. I'm grateful for everything you've done for me. And we still spend plenty of time together, even though I'm sure most of the days they happen on aren't documented in your writings. But that's all right. I'd rather be enjoying myself in humble lovely Ponyville than depressing and spooky Sunny Town. It's OK if nopony is ever going to read about what we do as friends. We both appreciate it, so isn't that all that really matters in the end?"

She certainly had a point. I may not have said nearly as much about Mitta in my writings since finally coming to live in Ponyville, but that does not mean her place in my life has changed. She is still a great friend to me and even Ruby pops up now and then to hang out. Although I will say that her profession with that silly lost and found gig she has going on makes it hard to track her down at times. However, I would admit that for anyone who only knows what happens in my life through just these journal entries, Mitta would seem like someone who is largely forgotten since being removed from the anomaly that is Sunny Town. But she is still here in my life and we do meet up now and then. And that is enough in a friendship, right?

Pinkie Pie soon returned just in time for our food to be brought out. I will leave it up to you to guess what we ordered. While feasting, Pinkie Pie asked, "So, Mitta. Did Rarity put together anything for you to wear for Nightmare Night? It's your first one, so it's best to have a great first time!"

I glanced at Mitta while she glanced around as if trying to remember something. "Hmm... I think she did. She's keeping it under wraps until tonight though. But I'm sure it'll be something I'll look great in!"

She did seem a little excited about the whole thing. I then asked, "Come to think of it, what do you do again as Rarity's assistant?"

Mitta looked my way with a pleased smile and said, "Oh, I do a little bit of this and that. I usually help her with inventory and restocking supplies. I also work as a test model for some of her dresses. The only way to know how it really looks is to try them on yourself."

I remained silent for a moment while trying to imagine Mitta actually wearing some of the dresses I have seen in Rarity's workroom. Especially some of the...hotter designs. Pinkie Pie did not seem to be paying much attention as she was munching down on corn on the cob being held between her hooves as if stuck on a spit. I looked back at Mitta and asked, "I take it you like dressing up?"

My friend's response was a big sheepish grin. "To be honest, yes! Rarity always compliments me while I try them on and it's done a lot for my confidence. She's even considering having me pose with some of her designs for a few magazines sometime."

"Wow, you on the cover of a magazine?! That's awesome! Let me know how that goes!" I replied with a sense of surprise coming over me. Mitta in a gorgeous dress... Why can I not picture that in my head? For as long as she has been working under Rarity, I have never actually seen her try anything on.

Regardless, time to get to the main event. We finished up lunch without much else worth mentioning and all got back to work. As expected, the sun started setting a bit earlier than expected with the sky starting to get a bit dark before even 4 PM. It was at this time that Mr. and Mrs. Cake started to close up shop early to get ready for the festivities. I suspect they thought the clock was an hour slow or something instead of thinking that night was coming an hour early. With us being let off early, Pinkie Pie and I made our way over to Carousel Boutique and ended up meeting all of our friends along the way. Except for Rarity, of course.

By the time we were all standing outside the boutique, the sun had all but set over the horizon. Things would finally start getting underway in town soon. Spike seemed to be quite excited while he rode on Twilight's back. "So, anypony know what Rarity's got ready for us?"

"Let's just hope whatever she's got for you is more fashionable than that gimp suit you were wearing last year, kid. Seriously, Twi. Why did you dress him up in that again?" I asked in return while being unable to get that image out of my head. All that was needed to complete the aesthetic was a leash and a whip being held aloft in Twilight's magical grasp. Most of my friends still seemed baffled by my mention of a gimp suit, although Rainbow Dash appeared to be trying to not laugh as she clearly knew what it was thanks to her perverted side interests.

My inquiry only caused Twilight to hold her hoof in her face. "It wasn't a gimp suit, James! It... Ugh, it would take too long to explain... Let's just say his costume and mine were remnants of one of the dumbest things I've ever done. Can we just leave it at that, please?"

Pinkie Pie then let out a giggle while Twilight knocked on the door, "Oh, that! You girls should've seen it! She spent all week running around trying to... Oops! Hi, Rarity! Happy Nightmare Night!"

Rarity was the one to answer the door and opened it wide for us while the bell hanging just past the doorway let out a little jingle. "Just in time, darlings! Do come in! It's just about time for your little surprise."

Once we entered, we found that Rarity had put away most of her equipment and the mannequins used to hold various garments. Although there was a rather sizeable stage on one side of the room with a purple curtain drawn over its round shape. Funnily enough, Mitta was adjusting some stage lamps that were affixed to the ceiling. She then looked down from the ladder and waved at us. "Good evening! I'll be done with these lights in just a bit."

"Whatcha got goin' on here, Rarity? Another fashion show?" Applejack asked while peeking behind the stage curtains. It seemed that she did not find anything of interest behind them.

Our elegant friend replied with an excited smile. "Oh, that's for the end, darling. I feel it would be necessary once we're finished preparing. Right this way, ladies! You too, Spike! I've got everything in the salon."

Spike giggled excitedly while Fluttershy smiled brightly as well. "Ooh, it must be dazzling. Maybe my costume is something that represents the majestic redwood."

"What's with you and always wanting to be a tree, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked with a laugh. Fluttershy just grinned rather meekly while following Rarity towards the back hallway.

I followed at the back of the group, but stopped when Mitta trotted up in front of me before holding up her hoof to stop me. "Hold on, James. Your costume isn't ready yet. Could you please wait out here?"

A smirk spread across my lips. I suspected that Rarity did not want me to see what she had whipped up for us just yet. Still, I shrugged my shoulders. "OK then. I'll just be out here."

I waited in the main room while looking through some fashion magazines Rarity had lying around to pass the time. I could hear the whirring of salon hairdryers at work down the hall, even from behind closed doors. While I did not see anything worth mentioning in the magazine, my reading session was cut short after maybe twenty minutes when the lights suddenly went out.

"Uh... Who killed the lights?" I muttered while standing up and starting to feel my way around cautiously, having gotten a good feel for the boutique's layout. "Hey, Rarity? I think your fuse box blew something... Huh?"

I paused when I felt my hand brush against someone's hair. I then heard Rainbow Dash speak up from somewhere while the sound of hooves passed me by. "Hang on a second, big guy. Rarity says we've got to get to the stage first."

"The stage? What for?" I asked while being completely blinded. With the curtains pulled over the windows, there was no light anywhere. Although I did see Rarity's faint light blue aura coating her horn and my hand while I was led back into the main room.

"Wait right here, darling. We're going to need an audience for this!" She said before letting me go. I assumed I was facing the right direction and remained still. "Mitta, are the lights ready?"

"Yes, ma'am! Ready when you are!" I heard Mitta reply from somewhere nearby. She sounded excited about whatever was about to happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aWTvCQlR3s

"Excellent! Prepare yourself, darling. Tonight's Nightmare Night has a dream team attending the festivities!" Rarity then said with much gusto as the stage lamps started to turn on to reveal the stage before me with the curtains opening even as a jazzy soundtrack began to play from somewhere.

It seemed that Rarity had employed some sort of special effects since I saw a row of fire suddenly flare up. But just then, that fire was frozen over with frigid blue ice in the wake of a chilling icy blue energy beam. And then came Twilight riding in on a...trail of ice being generated right in front of her from her horn. She then hopped off and landed at the edge of the stage while striking a dynamic pose with one hoof raised off the floor. Those goggles. That jumpsuit. Her hairstyle. I recognized it immediately. "What the... Masked Matter-Horn?!"

Twilight faded into the shadows as the lights focused on a panning backdrop featuring a metropolis with lights shining from many windows. Probably Manehatten after dusk. The panning stopped as it focused on the side of a building having a dramatic close-up. And then, a golden horseshoe suddenly slammed into it with both ends being firmly attached to the wall. It was then that the tip of a rope lashed out and got tied around it before panning over to the sight of Applejack gripping her rope in her mouth while performing a great swooping swing from the improvised grapple point. She ended up performing a back flip while coming out of the swing before pulling her rope back down and tucking it in the black harness being worn on her back. Once more, I recognized that red jumpsuit and took note of her absent hat. "Mistress Mare-velous...? Oh, I see what's going on here!"

Once more, the lights faded on Applejack and focused upward to reveal glowing pink ephemeral platforms forming in what seemed to be a stairway arrangement. And then, a hoof cloaked in a dark blue sleeve stepped into the light as a regal mare gracefully descended the steps with her head held high. Once she reached the stage floor, the steps faded while the light focused exclusively on Rarity as she flashed me a flirty wink before even blowing me a kiss. Those gems in her hair. That sleek jumpsuit and the bracelets around her wrists. I could not help applauding at her display. "Oh, Lady Radiance! Spectacular!"

As expected, the lights faded once more before showing a cloudy night sky. Suddenly, lightning began to shoot every which way while a tornado began to rise up in the middle of the vista. Then a dark form began to become more noticeable in the center of the swirling funnel cloud. It was then that the tornado dissipated to reveal a spinning pegasus mare clothed in a black suit with white covers for her hooves. The lightning bolt pendant hanging from her neck only completed Rainbow Dash's look while she ceased spinning and hovered proudly over the stage floor. "Excellent reveal, Zapp!"

Like before, the lights faded only to refocus on another spot. This time, the backdrop seemed to show an empty moonlit field. And then, a sudden white and pink streak zipped by. The view then seemed to zoom out to show the streak zipping all over the field before it suddenly bolted right towards me. Fortunately, Pinkie Pie came to a screeching halt at the edge of the stage before rapidly jogging in place. I knew that white and purple outfit anywhere. "Easy there, Fili-Second! We don't need you performing an ill-judged stage dive!"

Yet again, the light faded only to brighten and reveal a craggy quarry of sorts. A rockslide began to occur before a hoof attached to a bulky muscular leg wrapped in a sea green suit smashed it apart. The view panned out to reveal a towering hulking beast in the shadows tanking every hit it received while obliterating many more rocks with raw power, letting out bestial roars as it did so. Once the rockslide ceased, the view zoomed in as the beast seemed to grow smaller while doing so. Or was it the same size the entire time and was farther away to give the illusion of a size difference? Regardless, the light then revealed Fluttershy with her mane and tail styled into a very wavy design while she cutely smiled in an almost apologetic fashion. Her hoof being held to her lips only made her all the more endearing. That mask and the suit adorned with butterfly knickknacks. I knew who it was right away. "You're too cute, Saddle Rager! Good one, honey!"

Lastly, the lights faded and revealed a metal catwalk in a factory or something. Suddenly, Spike ran across it while decked out in a mask, cape, belt, and boots. I knew all too quickly what he was dressed as. He suddenly jumped over the very end and pulled out what appeared to be a grappling hook before throwing it as he fell. It seemed to get caught on something before he swung through the air and ended up landing on Twilight's back. It was then that the camera panned out and revealed the entire team of seven lined up in a row as multicolored lights shone up from the back of the stage for impressive dramatic effect and flair. I could only applaud as the lights began to come back on. "Awesome, girls! You too, Spike! Looks like the Power Ponies are in town!"

One by one, my friends looked over their outfits while seeming genuinely pleased with the end results of Rarity's creations. Rainbow Dash even said, "You're telling me! Where'd you get the idea to have us dress up as the Power Ponies this year, Rarity?! This is way too cool! I can't tell these apart from the costumes we wore last time!"

Rarity grinned proudly while gently adjusting her mane to insure it had been styled to match her glorious outfit. "Well, I was left thinking after our little adventure in that comic book just a little while ago. What if I could replicate those designs myself? And so I did! I trust they are comfortable?"

Applejack then smirked a bit while she seemed to wiggle her haunches a bit. "Yup! And they ain't nearly as tight on my hindquarters as the last one. Thanks for rememberin' that, Rarity."

"Oh, absolutely, Applejack. Although there may be a few design inconsistencies with the original source material. I was mostly working from memory." Rarity replied with a slightly uneasy smile. And I could see why. The original designs of the Power Ponies' outfits differed a bit from what my friends were wearing. I think I already covered that in an earlier entry, so there is no need to repeat myself. Even so, I could not care less on how they differed. They looked like the real deal.

Fluttershy then asked while examining the little butterfly decorations on her wrists, "I just love how you tailored them to suit each of us... Oh! Um... I don't have to worry about turning into a big scary monster if I get angry, do I?"

That got a bit of a chuckle out of most of us. Rarity then explained, "Ohohoho, of course not. I may be able to provide the outfits, but you can forget about the superpowers themselves. There's no way I could replicate those. Although I so dearly wish I could create those fantastic bracelets. Nothing like a functional piece of jewelry!"

It was then that Twilight asked while stepping down from the stage, "I don't mind that we don't have the superpowers of the Power Ponies. These are awesome by themselves! But... Mitta? Where'd you go?"

"I'll be just a minute! I've got just a few more things to get in place with my costume..." Mitta replied from behind some curtains set up against the wall nearby. Just then, something burst out from the curtains before coming to a stop before us. A pony wearing a dark hooded cloak with metal bands around her wrists and ankles.

"Whoa, it's Shadowmane! Power Ponies, get her... Hey! Where's my slingshot?!" Spike shouted before noticing that he was entirely unarmed. I suspected he was getting a little too into his role as Hum Drum as he then turned to Rarity and said, "Radiance! Quick! I need a weapon!"

That was all it took for all of us to start laughing at him. However, Shadowmane then turned to us and lifted her hood just slightly to reveal her bold red eyes. As it turned out, it was just Mitta. Like the villain in the comic book world, she was wearing the same kind of cloak as Shadowmane and the underlying purple suit. Only her upper face was exposed. However, it seemed that Rarity had forgotten to include the dagger that was tucked into the front of the cloak. Then again, it would be hard to notice regardless. Mitta then spoke from under her mask, "It's OK, everypony! It's just me!"

Pinkie Pie then zipped up to Mitta with speed that would not be unexpected for Fili-Second, although I had learned to stop questioning Pinkie's physical abilities. "Wow, you pull off the mysterious shadowy villain look so well! You even had Spike fooled! And he knows everything about the Power Ponies!"

"Heheh... Well, Rarity suggested this outfit for me. I don't know anything about those comic books, but I'm hoping I look good in it." Mitta replied while sounding a bit embarrassed about her presentation. Besides, she is too sweet to act villainous at all.

"Yes, sorry about that, Mitta. It was the only other outfit I could think of that would work with ours. Good thing the design was so simple since I only got a look at that Shadowmane persona for just a moment. But you do look quite striking in it!" Rarity then proclaimed while seeming quite proud of her work.

However, it was then that Twilight looked at me and asked, "Wait! What about James? I didn't see any outfits in the back that looked like they were for him."

It was then that Rarity showed a look of embarrassment as if she had been hoping we would not have noticed. My gorgeous friend then approached me and spoke, "Well... About that... Darling, I assure you that I tried. I was hoping to put together an outfit resembling Project H as you were just so dashing in that form! However... Let's just say that I've always been a mistress of fabrics and not metal. Nothing I came up with would fit your body well enough for the look to be convincing."

"Meh, I'm not surprised. That armor was more along the lines of being my actual skin. You try to actually stuff me into a suit of armor that snug and I'd be crushed by it." I replied while shrugging my shoulders. I had all but forgotten about Project H up until that moment. However, I then noticed Twilight gasp with a look of inspiration in her eyes behind the goggles. "What's up, Twi?"

"I've got it! Remember last year?" She replied while approaching me. "I'll just use my magic to change your outfit into the armor you were wearing back then! I think it'll work just fine."

"You can... Oh, right! That fancy outfit I wore last year... Almost forgot about that! But don't I need something to serve as a medium for the helmet?" I asked in return while feeling my bare head.

"I got it!" Applejack said before she galloped down the hall. A moment later, she came galloping back with her hat in her teeth before holding it up to me. "Ya can use my hat! Just make sure ya take good care of it, all right?"

"Your favorite hat? Thanks, AJ." I said with a smile before placing it on my head. It fit quite well, even if a little too big for me. "How's this? Good enough?"

"That should do it! Now we just need... Um... Wait, does anyone have a picture of Project H for reference?" Twilight said in return before looking around at our friends. They mostly just shook their heads, but Spike then held something up. "Hm? Got something, Spike?"

"Yeah! It's the latest issue of the Power Ponies! I didn't get around to finishing it, but maybe it's got a picture of Project H in it somewhere. Hang on a second." Spike explained before opening up the comic book as he started flipping through the pages. For a moment, it seemed like his search was fruitless. But just as he got to the inside of the back cover, he smiled. "Here's one!"

Spike ran forward and handed the book to me. I then looked at the back cover. It was indeed a large illustration of Project H standing with the H-Buster primed. His face was definitely not quite the same as mine, but it bore a similar appearance to the same blue hero I saw while stuck in that comic book world. "Yup, that provides plenty of reference material... Hang on a second. Thanks to your feedback, Project H will be returning next month in an all new series under the surname 'Hunter'. Stay tuned for the groundbreaking new... Oh, sweet! The Project H series has been greenlighted! The first issue is coming out next month!"

"It is?! That's wonderful! With everything that happened in the pilot, it would've been shocking if it didn't get popular." Fluttershy said with a delighted smile while the rest of our friends also seemed pleased to hear the news.

I then held out the book in front of me while focusing on the picture of Project H. "OK then... Go ahead, Twilight. I'm ready to suit up."

"All right. Just remain focused on the illustration and I'll do the rest." Twilight said while her horn became coated in her billowing pink magic aura. I did not blink once while taking in all the details of the armor. A bright flash engulfed my entire body. And once I took a good look at myself, I was thrilled to find myself coated in that gorgeous white robotic armor. "That did it! Is it comfortable, James?"

"Hmm... Yeah, it feels a bit snug, but it's no big deal. I'm guessing this is more illusionary than and actual physical change in my clothing's properties. Still, it feels sweet to be back in this armor!" I replied while getting a good look at myself in a nearby mirror. I looked just like the real thing! Although I certainly did not feel the same.

Mitta especially took an interest in my outward appearance and trotted over to me. "Wow... This is... It's even more dazzling than that armor you were wearing when you came to rescue me from Sunny Town. Maybe I'll start reading those comic books and see what I've been missing."

"They're actually pretty good from what I've seen. Anyway, just let me give this... Oh... Uh... Something wrong here?" I said before holding out the comic book and seeing that crackling sparks and even a bit of steam were rising from it. "Uh... I think you zapped the book too, Twilight. You think it's OK?"

"Whoa! Let me see that! I hope you didn't burn it, Twilight!" Spike called out before he ran over to me. I dropped the book down into his hands and he quickly blew on the book to cool it off. The sparking static electricity seemed to fade and the steam stopped rising from it. "Phew. I think it'll be OK. Careful with that magic next time. OK, Twilight?"

Twilight giggled nervously while Spike flipped through the pages to make sure that nothing was damaged. "Sorry about that, Spike. I guess I'm just out of practice."

"Well, now that the whole team is assembled, plus one villain, let's hit the town!" Rainbow Dash then called out while she swooped for the door.

We all started to head for the front door as well, but Pinkie Pie then noticed the comic book tucked under Spike's arm. "You bringing that along too?"

"Huh? Oh, this? Um... Nah. I'll leave it here. We'll have to come back to return the costumes anyway, so I'll grab it then." Spike replied before setting the comic book on a nearby counter. With that out of the way, the nine of us left Carousel Boutique and headed out into the night. It was time for some fun.

We did not go far before finding plenty of activity happening. Nightmare Night was well underway with dozens of costumed ponies milling about everywhere, enjoying various treats provided by a number of stalls and games set out, ranging from spider toss to bobbing for apples to pumpkin catapults. And that was just for starters. I kept glancing at the starry night sky in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Luna or Nightmare Moon approaching to join the fun. No sign of them just yet, but I knew they would be arriving at some point.

The air was a bit cool, but my illusionary outfit provided me with a surprising amount of insulation. Was that even worth mentioning? I soon found that my friends and I were drawing quite a bit of attention from just about everyone we passed. Poor Fluttershy was pretty apprehensive about the extra attention, but Rarity and Rainbow Dash were just basking in it. And then some voices called out to us. "Hey! Is that you, Applejack?! Whatcha dressed up as?!"

Three little fillies were trotting right to us. And it was pretty obvious who they were. The three Cutie Mark Crusaders were drawing near. And they were all dressed up for Nightmare Night too. It seemed that Scootaloo was dressed up in a miniature Wonderbolt jumpsuit complete with a set of goggles, Sweetie Belle had changed up her mane and tail to look exactly like her sister while even getting the colors right and Apple Bloom was... Wait. Was that Apple Bloom or Ruby? No, wait. It was Apple Bloom. Her eyes were not glowing.

"Huh? Ain't ya supposed ta be Ru... Ooooh, I get whatcha did. I bet Ruby'll be flattered when she sees ya like that. You girls havin' a good time?" Applejack replied while giving her little sister a gentle head rub.

"Yup! But... Whoa! All of you are dressed up as the Power Ponies?!" Apple Bloom replied while she and her friends beheld all of us.

Sweetie Belle then spoke up, "Wow, you look really good as Hum Drum, Spike! And Mitta... Oh, you're dressed up as Shadowmane! Awesome! We've got the heroes and a villain to top it off!"

Scootaloo then trotted right up to Fluttershy and petted her restyled tail. "Awesome! You make a really cool Saddle Rager, Mom! And..." She then looked right up at me while I looked down at her. But just as I was about to question her lack of a response, she pretty much started to spaz out with her tiny wings buzzing. "OH MY GOSH!!! My dad's Project H?! So cool so cool so cool! Hey, change colors! Show us that awesome energy sword!"

All of my friends busted out laughing as Scootaloo just started hopping around me while having a fangasm. She must have really been into the Project H pilot to find my costume that awesome. Funny thing is I never see her bring comic books home. She must sometimes hang out with Spike to read some. And it seemed that she was not the only one who recognized my look as even Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom started to gather around me. Sweetie then said, "He looks just like him in the book! And did you hear?! He's gonna get his own series starting next month!"

"I know! I can't wait ta see 'im kick Alpha's flank! That showdown with that walkin' armor thing was totally wicked!" Apple Bloom then added while inspecting my boots, probably while trying to find the thruster ports on the underside. I even got a laugh while Scootaloo started to poke at what seemed to be the holster for the H-Saber, even though it did not open. Heh, I probably should read through that comic book sometime to see exactly what differed between the script and what actually happened to me and my friends when we got sucked into the book itself.

That was when Spike hopped off Twilight's back and started conversing with the three fillies. "Yeah, that thing was scary! But did you see how Saddle Rager went nuts on it?! She totally ripped that thing's arm off! Oh man, best part of the fight!"

The rest of us just watched while the kids got lost in discussing the Project H pilot. It was pretty humorous to listen in like that, especially since we personally experienced the story. Finally, Sweetie Belle then glanced at me and Rarity before saying, "Hey, that reminds me! Did you see the way Radiance and Project H ended up doing that cool battle dance together in the factory?"

"Dan... Oh boy..." I muttered while I recalled that dance Rarity and I did while guarding each other's back during the siege on the robot factory. If you could even call it that. Did that actually happen in the book? Or at least something similar to it? Rarity seemed to remember it as well since she glanced up at me out of the corner of her eye while showing a smirk. She was clearly remembering that time fondly.

Scootaloo then added, "Yeah! They looked so cool together! Although I bet Project H and Zapp would make a better team. Did you see how they both took Alpha on? That was sweet!"

It was what Apple Bloom said that really caught my ear. "Yeah, but did ya see the chemistry between 'im and Radiance? I'm totally shippin' them if they hit it off in the new series."

Some of my friends even started to snicker, although Fluttershy just rolled her eyes at the claim. However, Sweetie Belle then looked up at me and Rarity before grinning excitedly. "Yeah, they'd make an awesome couple! Come on, Project H! Give her a kiss!"

That actually got a laugh out of me. "Seriously?! Sweetie Belle, you know I'm just wearing a... Hey?!" I was suddenly pulled down to one knee by an unseen force only to find Rarity looking right at me with quite an amorous gleam in her eyes. "Uh... Rarity? You do know I'm..."

I was silenced when my gorgeous friend placed her hoof behind my head while pulling herself up higher so her face was parallel with mine. She then spoke softly to me, "Now now, darling. Let's give the fans what they want."

Before anyone could even get a word in, the lovely Radiance locked lips with me and soon even deepened the kiss until I felt her tongue caressing my own. I did not bother resisting as kissing Rarity is nothing new to me, my arms holding her against me in an embrace while all my friends around me fell into awkward silence, raucous laughter, or excited giggling. Once the two of us broke the kiss, the three Cutie Mark Crusaders were looking at us in... I am not entirely sure what to call that expression. But Sweetie Belle looked like she was about to burst while biting her hoof and blushing furiously. That filly is quite the romantic, from what I have heard. I then asked while wiping our combined saliva from my lips, "Uh... Something wrong?"

Sweetie Belle just let out an adorable squeal. "Eeeee, I ship it I ship it I ship it! They just look so cute together!"

Scootaloo, being the tomboy she is, just looked the other way while feigning a gag of disgust. "Bleh! Is it wrong to like the couple but not like the mushy lovey-dovey junk that comes with it?"

"Aw, it ain't that bad, Scoot! Ya just gotta get used ta it." Apple Bloom replied while most of my friends let out a giggle. I could only roll my eyes. I wonder if she would ever get over her disgust one day?

Apparantly wanting to change the subject, Scootaloo then pulled out her empty treat bag and hung it against her chest. "Don't count on it. Anyway, let's go get some goodies! I've got my bag!"

"Good idea! Mitta, you wanna join us?" Sweetie Belle then asked while she and Apple Bloom pulled out their bags as well.

Mitta, clearly wanting to stay close to her fellow crusaders, stepped forward while trying to show a smile through her mask. "Sure! It's my first Nightmare Night, so I'd love to see what it's all about."

"Right then! C'mon, girls! All that candy's waitin' for us?" Apple Bloom cheered before she and her friends galloped off with Mitta trotting along behind them.

However, it was then that Pinkie Pie butted in. "Wait! Did they say candy?! Wait for me!" She then pulled out her own sack before hanging it around her neck and dashing off after them.

"Oh boy... Some things never change." Twilight said while shaking her head. That Pinkie Pie... Most people outgrow dressing up before going from door to door for candy handouts. I guess Pinkie Pie never really let the kid in her die out.

Minutes later, we all started to split up to enjoy the festival at our own pace. Applejack especially had to hurry off to supervise her stall. She always seemed to take the opportunity to sell some of her home baked goods along with setting up an apple bobbing tub.

I eventually found myself waiting in line for some treats at another snack stall being run by Mr. and Mrs. Cake. I did not recognize anyone in line, but did not have long to analyze what was out on the counters. Something started smacking me in the back of my leg. Some kid then said, "Hey, this doesn't sound like metal at all!"

Who the... I grimaced in bewilderment before I turned and looked down to see who was taking swings at my leg. It seemed to be a colt wearing a green forest garb and quiver filled with fake plastic arrows. The tool he had been whacking me with was a small plastic dagger. It was strangely...familiar to me. "Wait a second... I've seen your outfit somewhere."

It was then that the hooded archer looked up at me and revealed his face. And sure enough, I recognized him. "Hey, Button Mash! Now I know what you are. Going as the archer from Equestrian Heroes, huh?"

"You bet! It's the class I'm best at! And... Oh, you're Project H! Who made your costume?! It's awesome!" The little colt asked while sheathing his dagger. Whoever put his costume together did a great job. It was pretty much identical to the archer's sprite from the game. All he needed to finish the look was a little pair of wings.

"Let's just say I had some help. And you're sporting that look really well. Where's your mom? I bet she's dressed up as a mage." I replied while squatting and patting Button on his hooded head.

"Uh... Oh, here she comes! Mom! Over here!" He said before looking behind himself and waving at someone. And it was then that I noticed a mare clad in a hooded white robe approaching. Reddish pink highlights lined the robe's bottom and around the edges of the hood while she seemed to be carrying an oaken staff in her wrist's grasp.

I looked on as the gorgeous mare approached us with grace. She then looked at me from under her hood and flashed me her best smile. "Happy Nightmare Night, James. Can you guess what I'm dressed as?"

"That white and pink robe gives it away. You're a white mage! But... Are there fantasy RPGs with that character class?" I asked in return while really liking her outfit. She certainly wore that aesthetic well and it fit her motherly attitude to a T.

Button Mash ended up stealing my spot while I was focused on conversing with Eleina. She then replied while rolling her eyes, "Well, kind of. I became familiar with that character class back when Button's father and I still played tabletop games before we got married. And the robe was an almost constant feature."

"Man, I could never get into those. Hey, wait. Where's Button... Huh? Oh, thanks!" I then said before looking around and finding Button Mash handing me a chocolate drop with white icing doodled on it in the shape of a ghost. He then passed another to his mom while carrying one in his mouth. I chomped down on it right away. "Man, nothing makes a chocolate drop like extra icing."

"Mmhm! Thank you, Button." Eleina replied in earnest while she too feasted on hers. Button gave an unintelligible mumble while he chewed a mouthful of the tasty morsel. However, his mother let out a sudden shriek as everyone nearby scattered due to the sudden bang of a thunderclap.

It was then that I heard familiar raucous laughter and looked up to see a low hanging thundercloud floating just over us. "Hey, Button. Did you bring a bow with you to use those arrows with?"

"Huh? Uh... Yeah! Why?" He asked while trying to calm down from being startled by the sudden boom.

I then pointed right at the cloud and said, "Try shooting that cloud. I bet you can't hit it right in the middle."

Eleina just looked back and forth at the cloud and us, but just smirked slyly as if to tell us to go ahead. She clearly did not appreciate being startled and seemed to support some playful payback for whoever triggered that lightning strike. Button quickly got the idea and pulled a remarkably small bow off a belt wrapped around his middle. He then pulled drew an arrow from his quiver, which had a soft round arrowhead, and held it to the bow before drawing the string back. The draw weight for something so small must have been miniscule, but it might let the arrow fly far enough to hit its mark. Button then aimed straight up at the cloud and let the arrow fly. It passed through the cloud before falling right back down. It must have hit something since someone up there then shouted, "Ow! Hey, who hit me in the butt?!"

Button just started laughing while he retrieved his arrow even as Eleina giggled. I then looked up and crossed my arms while expecting someone to peek over the side of the cloud. And sure enough, Rainbow Dash peered over the side of the cloud with a look of irritation that immediately dissolved into one of slight fear. I then called out to her with a scowl. "You're lucky this costume of mine isn't really made of metal or we would've had a repeat of last year!"

Rainbow Dash swooped down and began to hover before us with quite an apologetic expression on her face. "Heheh... Yeah, I'm still kicking myself over that, big guy. I didn't..."

She was suddenly cut off by Button Mash as he began to circle her. "Whoa! It's Zapp! That thunderbolt must've been your necklace going off! Hey, can I get your autograph?! You were always my favorite of the Power Ponies!"

I bowed my head and let out a snicker. Having not actually read the Power Pony comic books, I had no idea exactly what the real Zapp even looks like. Although judging by Button's reaction to her, she must have been pulling off the look quite well. Always being too full of herself, Rainbow Dash wasted no time in dropping to the ground with her wing extended as if to grasp something. "Autograph?! Sure thing! I've always got time for my fans. Where should I sign, squirt?"

Something must have gone wrong. Button Mash's look of excitement became one of extreme puzzlement. And then it became a disdainful scowl. "Hey, wait a minute! You're not Zapp! She never talks like that!"

"Huh? Talks like what?! I don't get it." Rainbow Dash asked while being completely baffled by such an accusation. Even I could only shrug my shoulders. I had no idea what Button was even talking about.

It was Eleina who spoke up next. "You don't know? Then let me give you a demonstration." She then pulled her hoof down a bit further to give a more menacing visage and called out, "Halt, foul miscreants! Thou shall not escape under the constant surveillance of I, Zapp! Prepare thyself for thine imminent judgment!"

"Yeah, that's it! So, who're you?!" Button retorted while looking back up at Rainbow with quite an accusatory glare.

Rainbow Dash could only stare blankly at Eleina for a moment. Finally, she then held out her hooves and asked, "Who talks like THAT anymore?! Especially in a team of superheroes?!"

"Apparently Zapp does." I said in an attempt to throw in some snide humor before looking at nothing in particular. Still... She had a point. What superhero talks like that? It would have been quite awkward if I ever bumped into the real Zapp only to have her expect me to take her knightly lingo seriously.

Still, Button Mash did not seem to mind too much over Rainbow Dash imitating his favorite superhero. He then smiled and said, "Oh, whatever. Still, you almost had me fooled! If you just dyed your coat white and your mane and tail silvery purple, you'd look just like her! Hey, Mom! Let's go try to find the rest of the team!"

"All right, Button. Just don't go whacking other ponies' shins with your dagger." Eleina replied with that sweet motherly grin of hers. She then bid us farewell while Button Mash ran off with her following after him.

"Thou miscreants... Seriously, I can only imagine Princess Luna yapping like that. Seriously, it should've been Rarity who got that role!" Rainbow Dash jokingly complained while looking at her own costume. Yeah, only Rarity would have had the presence of mind to speak like that. Or is she more for French than knightly lingo?

"Meh. Just something to keep in mind next time you don that outfit. Anyway, what about the others? You seen them around?" I said in return while getting back in line to get some more treats from the Cake couple's stall.

Rainbow Dash followed my lead and got in line beside me. "Them? Well... I saw Pinkie Pie running around with the kids, Fluttershy's staying close to Applejack right now, Twilight and Spike are trying some games, and Rarity's keeping an eye on the fillies and Pinkie. And I swear I saw some stallions giving her some funny looks."

"Well, Radiance has always been a hotty, right?" I said while laughing a bit. I could imagine her turning away their advances while claiming she could only accept a fellow hero.

Rainbow Dash then hovered up to me and nudged my shoulder just under the guards. "Yup. But don't worry about them making off with her. I know you're the only stud she's got her eyes on."

"Heheh... Yeah, lucky me." I said softly while bowing my head as another chuckle escaped my lips. Heh... Project H and Radiance. I would love to see if that shipping goes anywhere in the series.

A minute later, Rainbow Dash and I walked away from the stall with chocolate drops in hand and hoof. It was then that Twilight and Spike started heading our way. Rainbow Dash waved at them to get their attention. "Hey there! How goes the candy gathering, guys?"

Spike was too busy stuffing his face with sweet treats while carrying around an entire pile to offer an actual vocal reply. And so Twilight spoke for him. "It's been going well! Everywhere we stop, everypony thinks our costumes look so cool! Except for Spike. They just think he makes the cutest Hum Drum ever."

"That explains the all the extra candy he's been getting... Huh? Oops! Sorry!" I said before almost walking right into someone who was stepping right out from behind the next stall. I startled her a bit too, but managed to stop just in time to avoid tripping over her. "Phew, sorry. Didn't see you there. You OK?"

"Uh... Yes, I'm fine. But... Hmmm..." The mare replied before her pale yellow eyes seemed to be drawn to my metallic boots. "My, you certainly have some impressive footwear. Such an dazzling finish with shimmering white and bits of gold. What a masterpiece..."

"Uh... Thanks? Just don't ask me to take them off. I'm afraid they're stuck where they are. All part of the costume." I replied while starting to notice that her attention to my feet was starting to border on fetishistic. What was it about her? Her voice was just silky smooth and her appearance... That mare was just HOT! Her mane was styled in a sweptback appearance while being a shade of dark fuchsia while pastel purple eyeshadow covered her eyelids. Her tail was shockingly long to the point where she had to tie it up into the form of a bow to keep it off the ground. Her entire body was covered in a sleek red bodysuit while wearing little white bow at the base of her neck, although the strangest thing was that it seemed to be made with a shoelace. A sky blue crest that was all but identical to Rainbow Dash's was set across her brow and down the sides of her face while a red horn jutted above the center, although I do not believe that was her actual horn and that it was just for added flair. Lastly, gray leggings were wrapped around her limbs while sky blue high heel shoes were worn upon her hooves. Everything about that outfit was just screaming with class and flair, although that gaze seemed to have some...devious intentions right under the surface.

Just as it looked like this fabulous mare was about to suggest something, Spike peeked out from behind his hoard of candy before suddenly dropping the whole pile in shock and running right up to her with such an excited gleam in his eye. "Whoa! Awesome High Heel costume! You must've been growing your tail out for years to get it long enough to tie into a bow like that."

High Heel? Something about that name rang a few bells. And for whatever reason, the shockingly sexy mare looked utterly bewildered by Spike's approach. She cocked her head to one side while looking down at the dragon boy and asked, "Uh... Hum Drum? When did you start walking on two legs...and had scales instead of a coat?"

"Woooow, and you even sound just like I imagined her too! This is turning into the coolest Nightmare Night ever!" Spike cheered while clearly psyched about something.

"Wait a second. You know this girl, Spike? Or... You know that outfit?" Rainbow Dash then asked while stepping out from behind me along with Twilight.

Spike then turned to his friends and explained, "Yeah! High Heel! The footwear-filching femme fatale! She's another big baddy of Maretropolis! Some even say she goes way back with Radiance..."

"Oh, another supervillain! Well, she definitely looks the whole femme fatale part." Twilight replied before stepping forward and gently pulling Spike aside. "I'm really sorry if Spike bothered you. He's just such a big fan of the Power Ponies and... Uh... Are you all right?"

For whatever reason, the mare dressed as High Heel seemed highly uncomfortable about something. She was definitely nervous. "Oh... Uh... It's no trouble, Masked Matter-Horn. Boys will be boys and all... Uh... Wait a minute. Did you dye your mane... Hang on." She then started to look around at our surroundings. Her gaze seemed to settle upon the various spooky decorations and stalls. She then glanced back at Twilight and Rainbow Dash before asking, "Uh... What day is it anyway?"

That got a laugh out of Rainbow. "You're kidding, right? It's Nightmare Night! Don't tell me you got dressed up like that for nothing!"

"Ooooh, Nightmare Night! Now it all makes sense..." The hot mare replied before her expression became a bit more twisted. There was something the way Rainbow Dash talked that caught the femme fatale by surprise. "Um... Wow, Zapp. Whatever happened to your bold commanding voice and knightly rhetoric? You sound so grainy now."

"My voice... Oh, knock it off! That's twice somepony's pointed that out! I can't help it!" Rainbow yelled before crossing her arms and pouting in irritation. I could not help laughing and held a hand to my forehead.

Even the mare dressed as High Heel got a chuckle out of Rainbow's irritation. "Well, just to make things clear... I'm taking it you three are NOT Masked Matter-Horn, Zapp, and Hum Drum?"

I decided to jump in and offer a retort while trying to be playful. "Well, not really. Although they could just be the real deal only having dyed their colors to mess with people. You never know when it comes to superheroes."

"Uh... Right. I guess that's a possibility. But anyway..." She said with a nervous chuckle before wrapping an arm around my leg. "Back to the topic at hand... I'm just all over not only these amazing boots, but the rest of this armored shell. Why don't we slip away so I can see what lies underneath?"

I have no idea where that even came from. Was this total stranger hitting on me? However, I then noticed that Twilight and Rainbow Dash were snickering like idiots. I then looked back at them while Rainbow Dash pointed past us and said, "Hey... Before you do that, I think somepony wants a word with you!"

"Really? Well, what do you... Uh..." Miss 'High Heel' replied before she and I looked to my right only to find Fluttershy staring at her with a bit of an unpleased glare. And for whatever reason, this got her extremely anxious as she said, "Oh, Saddle Rager! Uh... What a surprise seeing you here!"

"Honey, I swear this isn't what it looks like!" I added while trying so hard to not laugh. 'High Heel' was still holding onto my leg.

My words caught her attention as 'High Heel' suddenly looked up at me in a panic. "Wait! What'd you just call her?!"

Fluttershy then dryly said, "He's my fiancé. We're getting married in April."

Spike, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash were keeping their mouths shut tightly in awkward silence as 'High Heel' glanced up at me out of the corner of her eye before very rigidly letting go of me and stepping away. She then looked back at Fluttershy and began to speak while sweating buckets, "Uh... I really hope you're not getting the wrong idea... You see, I've just fallen in love with his... I mean I'm just enamored with... Uh... You're mad, aren't you? Please... I... I..."

And with that, Miss 'High Heel' just bolted away from us shrieking in fright. Fluttershy's rather annoyed expression immediately became one of bewilderment and even embarrassment while Twilight asked, "Wow... How does anypony run in those kinds of shoes?"

"Oh dear... I hope I didn't scare her. I just didn't want her to think that you weren't taken, honey..." Fluttershy then spoke while her face was filled with quite an embarrassed blush. She never did like scaring people.

Spike then let out a small laugh while he gathered up his pile of candy. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Fluttershy. If that was the real High Heel, she probably would've been more interested in taking Project H apart and selling his parts to whoever wanted them. Although she'd probably keep his legs for herself."

"Man, that makes her suggestion really scary when you think about it..." I replied while looking down at my legs. Was she really planning on dismantling me in a back alley somewhere? Nah, that would be stupid. Besides, she was just someone in costume, not the real High Heel. That character does not even actually exist!

Rainbow Dash hovered high above us for a moment as if to keep track of the femme fatale as she fled. "Man, did you see the way she flipped out like that?! It's almost like she was expecting you to hulk out and smash her, Fluttershy!"

"Well, that would've been silly. We don't really have superpowers. But who was that, anyway? I've never seen her around before." Twilight then asked while sounding quite perplexed. Indeed, I had never seen anyone in Ponyville with that particular color scheme in her eyes, mane, and coat. Let alone a tail so long that it has to be tied into a bow to be kept off the ground.

"Well, she was wearing that costume really well... Maybe she dyed herself to look more closely to the character?" Fluttershy then added while looking herself over, probably to check if her appearance as Saddle Rager was really convincing enough to fool someone.

"I guess. But I dunno why she ever would've thought you were the real Saddle Rager, Fluttershy. Her mane and tail are brown and curly. She looks nothing like you." Spike explained while he staggered forward with that huge pile of candy in his arms. "Man, I need to find a really big bucket."

We all decided to try heading over to the game section over in the town square to see what was going on while catching up on everything that we had seen so far. The town square was where all the real activity was going on. The dance stage, plenty of food stalls, and all of the usual games. I saw Applejack by the tub she normally puts out for apple bobbing and even saw Button Mash trying his luck just before he fell into the tub.

"Well, we're here! Where do we start?" Twilight asked before I heard someone walking up beside us. I did not pay it any mind to it, at least until Twilight turned around. "Any ide... Oh, Princess Celestia!"

We all turned to look as well and were greeted by the sight of the Princess of the Dawn standing under the glow of her sister's moon. She flashed each of us a delighted smile and said, "Good evening, everypony. Now, I might be a bit behind the times, but I believe you're all dressed up as superheroes, are you not?"

"Yep! The Power Ponies! And James here is Project H! He's the star of a new series that's starting next month." Spike replied before suddenly stumbling and getting buried in the pile of candy he was lugging around. That kid should just let Pinkie Pie handle that. She always seems to have room.

Celestia got a quiet giggle out of seeing Spike bury himself in candy. "Oh my... Is he going to be OK?"

"Nah, he's fine. He'll just eat himself out." Rainbow Dash said with a snicker as I could already hear Spike munching on something in the pile. He would be just fine... Wait... What did Rainbow even mean by that line?

Twilight then trotted up to her mentor and shared a brief hug with her as their necks became draped across each other. "So good to see you here. But what are you going as this year? No costume this time?"

Celestia showed a somewhat facetious smile while replying, "Oh, I decided to just go as the Princess of the Dawn this year. How do I look? Pretty good, right?" I covered my face with a hand while letting out a snicker as my friends more or less did the same. Even so, Celestia then turned her attention to me and even began to circle me. "Still... Oh my lord, James... Now THAT is a costume! Project H, is it? But how do you fit in it? It almost looks like it's too tight for your body to fit in."

"Yeah, you'd think so, wouldn't you? Twilight and Spike helped out with that. Some sort of transformative magic? It's how I got my costume last year." I replied while trying to keep my eye on her.

"Oh, that kind of magic! Well, it looks like you've really mastered that spell, Twilight. It looks like the real deal." Celestia then said to Twilight before sliding her hoof over my chest. "It even feels real too!"

"Mmhm! Really impressive spell, isn't it? Come to think of it... James, do you think that buster cannon or whatever it is still works?" Twilight replied while eyeing my right arm.

Fluttershy did not seem to like the idea of me firing that off. "Oh dear... Um... Is it a good idea to try that?"

"I don't know if I even can! I don't exactly feel it like last time..." I replied while holding up my right forearm. I tried to get some sort of reaction out of it. And much to my surprise, I did. My right hand retracted into my forearm as the H-Buster became primed. "Huh! It actually works! Not sure how, but I guess this thing's operational."

"Hm... Nice. Would you care to show us how it works?" Celestia then asked while observing the cannon on my arm.

"Uh... Sure! Let's see what this baby is packing! Um... Right, body is white and gold. Default settings are in place." I replied before taking aim at the moon itself. I needed something to shoot for. "Here we go!"

And with that, I fired the H-Buster. Somehow. But when I did... I heard what sounded like a party blower going off as a puff of confetti burst from my buster's mouth. At first, I had no idea what to think. And neither did anypony else. We all just stood there in awkward silence as if waiting for something to happen. Finally, Celestia broke the silence with a cockeyed gaze. "That's it?"

"Uh... Something's wrong here..." I muttered before firing again only to have another burst of confetti fly out of the H-Buster. I found this to be highly insulting and held it up in front of my face to examine it. "What the crap is this?! Confetti Shower?! Oh, sure! I can totally imagine Project H shouting 'Confetti Shower' while firing a burst of the stuff into the face of a rogue robot!"

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie zoomed up to me out of nowhere and said, "Oh, that's just a compact party cannon I stuck on your arm when nopony was looking! Hope you like it!" She then zipped away just like the real Fili-Second.

"Party...cannon... Oh, you've gotta be kidding me, Pinkie!" I all but yelled while hunching forward with my arms hanging low. Everyone present just laughed at me, although I did not mind it that much. Even so, I could only look at my arm while somehow getting my hand to emerge again. "I really hope the writers don't have Project H get this ability as some sort of gag or Spike will never let me hear the end of it..."

"Oh my goodness... Well, when it comes to Nightmare Night, it's all about the looks and having fun. Not whether or not your costume actually replicates the original source material down to every fine detail." Celestia then said while managing to cease her laughing. I could tell she was getting a kick out the show before me. "Anyway, I shouldn't be keeping all of you. Go and enjoy yourselves. Luna should be arriving before long. As for me, I need to go find the mayor before her annual Nightmare Night announcement."

My friends bowed while Twilight spoke, "We will, your highness. Have fun!"

With that, they turned and trotted off while Spike hurriedly gathered up his candy and chased after them. But just before I could follow, I felt a feather stroke my cheek. "James, if you have a moment?"

"Hm? Yes?" I asked while turning to face Celestia. I suspected it was for something personal since she had waited until the rest of my friends had already started to walk away.

Celestia smiled sincerely and asked, "I was thinking. Seeing as how winter is fast approaching and that most of your training with you equipment would require you to be outdoors a lot, how about we train you during your dreams now and then? My sisters could dream dive into your dreams and then call me over to join you. You would retain all your memories and apply them to the real world."

"That actually sounds like a good idea! And we could continue the training normally once spring comes around. Just make sure they keep the dream world as close to the real world as possible." I replied while having all but forgotten about our future training sessions. We simply have not gotten around to having any yet.

Celestia beamed at me, clearly excited about the concept. "Excellent! Then it's decided. I'll discuss it with my sisters tonight and try to decide on a night to start. Now, I had best let you go. Your friends will start wondering why you're lagging behind."

However, just as I was about to bid her farewell, Celestia caught me by surprise by reaching out and placing a kiss upon my cheek and then flashing me a wink. "Have a good evening, my sunshine."

I felt myself fluster for a moment, but then calmed down as I realized no one was really paying attention. In fact, hardly anyone was nearby. I glanced at Celestia, noticing her playful smirk. I then smirked as well before glancing around to make sure no one was watching. "Well, your highness... If I may..."

Seeing that the coast was clear, I decided to one-up Celestia. I suddenly reached out and planted a kiss right upon her lips. "Have a good evening, m'lady."

This unexpected kiss clearly flustered Celestia quite a bit as she very quietly squealed as her wings suddenly sprang open wide. Blushing furiously, she then folded her wings over her face. "Oh my goodness, I adore you so! Enough of this silliness! Go have fun! Don't let me keep you!"

I got a good laugh out of her reaction before pushing her wing aside and holding her in a tender embrace, my head leaning against hers for a moment. I had not forgotten about our day of bonding not long ago. And neither had she. I then whispered into her ear while planting a soft kiss upon it under the cover of her wing, "Will do. Let's meet up later tonight, m'lady."

I heard Celestia giggle the instant I kissed her ear as it flicked a bit in response to my touch. She leaned against me and whispered, "We shall. Take care, my dear."

Not wanting to worry my friends, I waved goodbye to Celestia and hurried on my way. I had found that my friends had gathered at the apple bobbing pool where Applejack was supervising. It turned out that Rarity had arrived and was stepping up to try a bite. "Hmmm... Red delicious or golden delicious?"

"C'mon, Rarity. Don't hold up the line." Applejack said while a couple more ponies were already bobbing around her. With no more room, Rarity would have to make her bite soon.

"Well... All right, here I go!" Rarity soon proclaimed. But as she opened her mouth wide and lowered it to the pool, we got quite a shock. Out of nowhere, a filly's head shot out of her mouth, grabbed the apple in her teeth, and then zipped back down Rarity's throat! She must have felt and seen it too since Rarity suddenly pulled back and brought her hooves to her mouth. "Ack! What was that! Did any of you see that?!"

"Did you swallow a filly?! Who was that?! She's in your belly now, isn't she?" Fluttershy asked while everyone else also seemed to notice it as well. There was a bit of a murmur spreading through the people around us as the freakish spectacle lingered in our memories. Rarity even began to feel herself over to check for the presence of something that was not supposed to be there.

After a moment, Rarity seemed to calm down. "Well... Whatever it was, it's not there now. Let me just try again..." She then tried reaching out for another apple while the other couple of ponies who had been bobbing stepped away. And good thing they did. Just as Rarity was about to bite down on one, a filly's head with glowing yellow eyes burst out of the water and growled loudly at Rarity, prompting my horrified friend to shriek as she fell right onto her back. It must have shocked her really good as she just started twitching in terror.

"What in tarnation...?!" Applejack yelled while she too jumped back. But the instant Rarity fell down, the snarling filly in the pool started giggling heartily. It was only then that I got a good look at the filly along with everyone else. "Wait a minute... I know that candy corn color scheme anywhere! What're ya doin' in there, Ruby?!"

The cheeky little ghost filly then looked at Applejack with a big smile. "Just having fun! This whole Nightmare Night thing's been the most fun I've had in ages!"

"Yeah, no surprise a ghost'd be having a blast tonight!" I added while crossing my arms as I looked down at my little spooky friend. She was certainly only trying to have fun, even if it came at the expense of Rarity's mental well-being. She then peered over the edge of the tub and asked, "Um... Is she going to be OK?"

"Uh... Maybe? I dunno, I've never pranked her THAT hard before." Rainbow Dash replied while gingerly poking Rarity's side. She was not going to move for a while.

Applejack then tried to restore order with her visitors. "Uh... Yeah. Anyway, how 'bout ya go play somewhere else? This ain't the spooks corner, ya know! Come on, fellas! I swear I don't got this tub booby trapped!"

"All right! I gotta go find Mitta and tell her about this anyway. Bye!" Ruby then climbed out of the tub and trotted off. Before she went far, she stopped by Rarity and placed an apple in her mouth as a possible apology.

"Well... I have to admit I wasn't expecting to see her tonight." Twilight muttered while watching the ghost filly walk away.

"Huh... Yeah, I almost never see her. I almost forgot about her, actually." Spike then added while I noticed Pinkie Pie standing in line. It started going by pretty quickly before Pinkie Pie was next in line. Her bag around her neck was looking pretty full, but could still hold more. And I knew she was going to stuff that thing full to bursting.

"Hi, girls! Having fun?" Pinkie asked while she came closer to us. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy had already taken their turns and were munching on the apples they caught.

"Mmhm! Looks like you've been busy." Fluttershy replied while having only eaten half her apple.

"Oh, I've been getting a lot more candy than usual! Everypony just loves my Fili-Second costume so much that they keep giving me extra candy to help me keep up the good work! And then... Huh?" Pinkie began to say before suddenly being cut off by some sort of groan from next to her. When we looked, we were greeted by an odd sight. A stallion wrapped up in a mummy costume. The eyes were even covered by light blue lenses. "Oh, hi! You wanna bob for apples too?"

The mummy pony just let out another incomprehensible groan while appearing to give Pinkie Pie a glare. Rainbow Dash then let out a snicker and said, "Wow, he's good. He really sounds like a creepy mummy!"

Pinkie Pie then got right up in the mummy's face, apparently surprising him. "Yeah, you're wearing this costume really well... Huh?" She then looked over at the dance floor set in front of the stage not very far from us. A new country song had started to play. "Ooh, I got it! Let's dance! I've got a new groove I wanna try!"

The mummy let out a much more confused groan as Pinkie grabbed his hoof and dragged him over to the dance floor. Out of curiosity, I followed. Even if it was just to see Pinkie Pie make a scene. Nopony really seemed to mind her and danced along to the beat of the music, but the confused mummy pony was just getting yanked and pulled along while Pinkie Pie just went nuts. "Woo! Spin all around and make an angry sound! Melt to the ground and do the mummy!"

I swear I have heard those lines somewhere before... Regardless, it finally ended with Pinkie Pie sending the mummy for a rapid spin away from her while holding onto one of his bandages, making it look like he was going to slingshot right back into her to continue the dance. However... Once the mummy stopped spinning... Well... Pinkie Pie put it best. "Hey! Where'd he go?!"

I got curious and approached the spot where the mummy stopped spinning along with Spike, who had come over as well. As it turned out, the only thing that remained of him was nothing but unfurled bandages. I then asked, "Huh... How'd he get away so fast without anyone seeing him?"

Spike just got a laugh out of it. "Whoa! It's just like one of Pharaoh Phetlock's mummy minions! They're all hollow inside and held together with a type of magic he uses... Actually, it's the only magic he uses."

"Phetlock...? Oh, isn't he one of those Power Pony villains?" I asked while remembering the name. First bumping into someone dressed as High Heel, and now someone dressed up as one of Pharaoh Phetlock's goons. What was next? Someone trying way too hard to look like the Mane-iac?

Pinkie Pie then started messing around with the bandages while examining them. "Wouldn't it be crazy if this really was one of those mummy minions and that the real supervillains were somewhere in Ponyville right now?"

"Fat chance on that, Pinkie. It's one thing to get dragged into a comic book, but good luck making fictional characters come to life." I replied while looking at the bandages left behind by Pinkie's reluctant dance partner. Seriously, where did he go?

While we were removing the bandages from the dance floor, I noticed that the music had stopped playing. The musicians up on stage, who were also decked out in a variety of costumes... I think a scarecrow, tin can, and a lion? They were starting to shuffle away while I noticed the local DJ pushing her booth closer to the edge. I suppose we were about to get a dose of spooky technopop or something more electronic that live acoustic instruments cannot provide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3A-vXNc7Yo

Once it started playing, Pinkie Pie let out a gasp. "Ooh! This is our jam!" She then zoomed away at absurd speed before rushing back with Rarity and Applejack, who looked utterly baffled as to how they got there so fast. Pinkie Pie then disappeared again and suddenly returned with Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. "Come on, girls! It's the Power Pony groove!"

"Huh?! What're you talking about?! Wait a second, doesn't that song sound a bit familiar?" Rainbow Dash asked before I too started paying a bit more attention to the song. It almost sounded like a remix of the song I had heard while Rarity was throwing her private fashion show just a little while ago, although it had some really heavy bass to it. And I was liking it.

Pinkie Pie then started helping my friends get into position for something. Being someone who just cannot dance well, I stepped away with Spike to avoid getting swept up into Pinkie's scheme. It looked like she was trying to get them into some synchronized dancing. Had they been practicing behind my back for fun at times? Fluttershy seemed hesitant to dance, as one would expect. "Um... Pinkie... I'm no good in front of an audience... Can I sit this one out?"

"'C'mon, Fluttershy! Just go with the beat! We can't have the whole team without ya anyway!" Applejack replied while she started to get into the groove. Pinkie Pie had everyone set up in a row with a specific pattern. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were at the tips of the line, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were next, and Twilight and Rarity were beside each other at the center. With the song well underway, they were all standing on just their hind legs while dancing in sync with each other. Fluttershy struggled at first, but she soon caught up and kept up to the beat of the song and the movements of her friends.

I really wish I could do their dancing justice in this entry, I really do. While their dazzling colorful outfits, sweeping manes and tails, and even the multicolored stage lights roaming over the dance floor, it was quite a sight to see the six Power Ponies just dancing to the awesome beat that the DJ had playing. Even the other dancers had quit dancing just to watch the Power Ponies dancing to the tune while cheering on. And I could tell that my friends were having fun. It especially got dazzling with the light reflecting off of Twilight's goggles and Rarity even looked something like a disco ball with those lights shimmering along the diamonds in her tail and mane. It was just such a sight to see Equestria's comic book superhero dream team tearing up the dance floor. I even found myself tapping my foot to the beat while bobbing my head a bit even as Spike seemed to be holding up a camcorder to record the spectacle. I wonder where he even got it.

Eventually, the song ran its course and the audience burst into applause. Most of my friends took a bow, but poor Fluttershy just meekly waved her hoof even as the rest of my friends reveled in the praise. Spike then lowered his camcorder and said, "Oh, this is gonna be so cool to watch later!"

I was about to compliment my friends, but it was at that moment that a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. It seemed to come out of nowhere, but the thunderclap did startle us. My friends immediately looked at Rainbow Dash, but she just shook her hooves nervously. "Hey, that wasn't me! I'm down here!"

"Oh, right. Then who...?" Twilight then asked while they looked around for the source of the lightning. After a few seconds, we noticed something atop the stage's frame. It seemed that someone had installed a pony-shaped gargoyle design overlooking the stage below. But then it spread its wings.

"Oh my! Seems we're being watched, darlings!" Rarity spoke out just before the intruder leapt from its hiding spot and drifted down to the center of the dance floor. Everypony around us eyed the entity warily while its appearance was shrouded with a cloak. But that cloak soon dissolved into a flurry of bats that flew away while chittering and screeching. No longer hidden, there she stood with wings spread. Princess Luna.

A smile came to my lips as the rest of the festival's attendees soon bowed humbly towards the Princess of the Night. I watched in silence while she glanced around at her subjects. It would be a poor move to approach her until after she had addressed them. At first, she seemed like she was about to bellow something, but caught herself before she could do so. Luna then held her hoof to her lips while clearing her throat before speaking loudly, "Citizens of Ponyville! It pleases me to see all of you engaged in such revelry and mirth on this most joyous of nights! As Princess of the Night, I implore you to continue your celebration! There is much fun to be had!"

I applauded my royal friend as the rest of the partygoers burst into cheers. It was then that little Pipsqueak, a tiny colt with a pinto coat pattern, rushed up to her and bowed. He seemed to be clad in a type of thief's outfit, complete with a hood, cloak, set of keys, and dagger. Although that dagger looked incredibly flimsy and like plastic. "It's so good to see you again, Princess Luna! Is this gonna be the best Nightmare Night ever? Even better than the last one?"

Luna cast the little colt a delighted grin. "Oh, it most certainly will, little rogue. But enjoy yourselves while you can... For you see..." Luna then closed her eyes before suddenly opening them and glancing around herself, her eyes producing a bright magical glow while her lips curved into a smirk. "Tonight, SHE will be joining us."

This sent a murmur of confusion and dread through the crowd of partygoers, but Luna then just walked through them while moving directly towards us. She then greeted me and my friends with a smile. "Well done on that dance, by the way. I saw it all. And such striking costumes! If there's a contest for best costume tonight, the entire lot of you should win it!"

Pinkie Pie let out a giggle and replied, "Thanks! You know who we are, right?"

I was not expecting Luna to know at all since I doubt most royalty take an interest in comic books. And yet, she surprised me. "Of course! Pinkie Pie here is dressed as the speedy Fili-Second, Twilight Sparkle wears the garb of the authoritative Masked Matter-Horn, Applejack is wielding the gear of the bold Mistress Mare-velous, Fluttershy is..."

It was then that a voice spoke up from behind us. "I hope my sister is not boring you. As you can see, she's become something of a nerd since her return to the throne."

Luna did not take kindly to that claim and stepped past us while we turned to face Celestia. "Not another word, Celestia. It's not my fault that such amazing forms of entertainment have sprung up over the past thousand years! Maybe you should give that series a read sometime."

I got a slight snicker out of that. I have not seen Luna's private chambers inside the royal palace, but it sounded like she has developed a pastime of reading the Power Pony series. Rainbow Dash even backed her up. "Hey, nothing wrong with a princess enjoying an awesome comic book series!"

"Yes, quite! And I will say right now that Spike here makes the most adorable Hum Drum." Luna replied while patting him on the head. Spike let out a chuckle, but Luna then took the chance to help herself to a piece of taffy in his pile. Fortunately, he did not seem to mind. But it was then that she got a good look at me. "Hm? James? Are you dressed... Oh my goodness. Project H! Oh, I should've known that it would've been worthless to bring that along! Spectacular replication!"

Celestia once more spoke up with a chuckle, "Yes, she was quite enthralled with that pilot. I had to talk her out of issuing a royal decree towards the Manehatten offices to produce the series regardless of feedback."

"Really now?! You would've commanded the writers to continue the series regardless of whatever everypony had to say about it?" Rarity asked while I too cocked my head to one side in puzzlement.

Luna rolled her eyes in annoyance. "She referred to it as 'abuse of power' when I tried. Such nonsense! Such an impressive story should never be cancelled before its time! Thank goodness the series is set to take off next month."

"I'm taking it the Project H series has become something of a hot topic in comic book circles lately. We've been getting a lot of feedback on my costume tonight." I then interjected while glancing down at my armored form.

"Well, it's the first comic book series that features a human-type protagonist in a sci-fi setting! It's the first of its kind, so that makes it pretty revolutionary!" Spike replied while snacking on more of his pile of candy. Surely his arms were getting tired by then, but he did not seem bothered at all.

The conversation with Luna just dissolved into discussing her hobbies, which turned out to include occasional comic book collecting and even video games. I suppose even royalty can get caught up in modern entertainment. Perhaps I should invite her for a game day at the arcade sometime.

Eventually, Luna made her way over to the various games to partake in some fun along with Celestia. Feeling in the mood for some more good eats, I started making my way back over to the food stalls to get something hot. Spike, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie tagged along while Applejack returned to her own stall and Rarity and Fluttershy walked off with Rainbow Dash. Still plenty to see and do. Although I was starting to notice the presence of several royal guards around the area, probably due to the presence of the Princesses of the Night and Dawn. Not that there was anything to be worried about.

Pinkie Pie just kept hopping along while her bag of goodies kept shaking and very nearly tossing some of her candy out. "So, you guys having fun?"

Spike nodded while tossing a few gumdrops into his mouth. "Yup! This just might be the best Nightmare Ni... Oof!"

Not surprisingly, Spike could not see over his pile of candy and walked right into the back of the line that had built up in front of Mr. and Mrs. Cake's stall. He dropped his entire pile and fell right down. Twilight just shook her head and said with an amused smirk, "We really need to get you a wagon. So sorry, sir. I hope Spike didn't bother you."

Whoever it was Spike had rear-ended was clearly not pleased and turned to face the dragon child with quite an irritated scowl. His costume was quite impressive, seeming to bring to mind a pharaoh ruler of a desert kingdom. On his head was... Uh... What do they call that striped headwear? I need a dictionary... All right, it is called a nemes. It consisted of gold and blue horizontal stripes and the pattern was even present on a cloth wrapped tightly around his short stubby beard hanging from the chin. A matching gorget hung around his neck and even wristbands bearing the gold and blue colorations were worn around his wrists and ankles. His tail's dark gray hair was cropped short while his cutie mark depicted a white ankh symbol set against his tan coat. His green eyes glared angrily down at Spike while he loudly scolded him. "You little scamp! Do you even know who you just ran into?!"

Twilight seemed ready to step in and defend Spike if needed, but Spike was hardly intimidated at all. In fact, he was quite intrigued. "Whoa...! Awesome Pharaoh Phetlock costume! You've got the headgear and everything!"

"That's Pharaoh Phe... Uh..." The phony pharaoh yelled almost on impulse before he suddenly caught himself while looking genuinely perplexed. He then softly asked, "Wait a minute... What did you just call me?"

Spike then replied rather enthusiastically, "Pharaoh Phetlock! The hoarder of ancient artifacts who plagues Maretropolis! With his magically assembled mummy minions, he... Oof!"

Spike had no time to even finish his sentence as the stallion snatched Spike up in his arms for a joyous hug of sorts. "Finally! Somepony got it right! Not Phony Pharaoh, not Phake Pharaoh, not even Phalse Pharaoh! Finally, somepony knows that it's Pharaoh Phetlock!" He then looked to the sky and shouted while shaking his hoof at the clouds, "You hear that, narrator?! You better take some notes from this kid!"

We all just looked up at the starry night sky, wondering who he was shouting at. The pharaoh then asked, "Uh... Narrator? You heard that, didn't you?"

After another five seconds or so of no response, he then set Spike back down. "Meh... Must be on a coffee break... Huh?! Masked Matter-Horn?! Fili-Second! And... And... Uh..." He then stared at me in confusion before gesturing with his hoof and asking, "Who are you?"

I got a bit of a snicker out of his reaction to our costumes, although I was more amused that he was more baffled over who I was imitating instead of what I was. "I'm dressed up as a new comic book character. Project H."

"Costume?" He asked before eyeing the rest of my friends warily. He then looked down at Spike before flicking the tip of his hoof against the tip of his beard while seemingly thinking. "Ooooh, right. It's Nightmare Night, isn't it?"

"Well, that's what the calendar says. And sorry if Spike disturbed you. We really need to find him a better means of transporting his candy." Twilight replied with a bit of a giggle as Spike started to gather his candy into another pile.

"Spike, huh?" The pharaoh asked before taking a closer look at Spike. "Well, you're no Hum Drum. Nice imitation though."

Pinkie Pie then hopped forward and asked, "How about a bit of my candy to make up for bugging you like that?"

Surprisingly, the pharaoh held out his hoof to dismiss Pinkie Pie's offer. "No thanks! I don't care about any gifts of pity. I'm just so happy that somepony finally got my name right! This is the best night of my life since... Huh?"

"Excuse me, sir! Can we get you anything?" Mrs. Cake called out, revealing that the rest of the line had already gathered up their treats and wandered off.

"I'll be just a moment! We'll talk later, should the sands of fate agree to it." The pharaoh said to Mrs. Cake and then to us before he trotted on over to the stall and then trotted away with a small stack of baked goods in one arm as he snacked on a muffin.

Spike lifted his stack of candy into his arms and then said with a smile, "Wow. First High Heel and now Pharaoh Phetlock! He even acted and sounded just the way I'd expect him to! I dunno who thought dressing up as the villains was a good idea, but I hope we see more of them! Although I've gotta wonder how somepony could ever pull off a real Smudge costume..."

"But wasn't it weird how he didn't immediately know it's Nightmare Night, yet he was dressed up anyway?" Twilight then asked while pointing to a very odd detail that even I had overlooked.

Pinkie Pie was quick to provide a response. "Ooh! Maybe they're actors for an upcoming Power Ponies movie and they're going incognito to really get into character!"

"As weird and unlikely as that sounds, I wouldn't be too surprised if that's the case. They're doing a good job with those costumes." I then added while watching the guy dressed as Pharaoh Phetlock appear to be talking to the mare dressed as High Heel in the far distance. They must have had some sort of connection if they were socializing with each other.

It was after we picked up some muffins that Pinkie Pie then pointed towards a pegasus stallion walking along in the distance. "Ooh! I've never seen a pony dress up as a mime for Nightmare Night! I'm gonna go do some pantomiming with him!"

While Pinkie Pie trotted on over to the guy, I noticed Rainbow Dash coming down from overhead. "Hey there! Did I miss anything? I just went and entered us all into the costume contest!"

"Thanks, Rainbow. I bet you girls will win first prize for sure." I said with a smile, not at all surprised that Rainbow Dash would sign up for a contest. She loves to win, maybe too much.

Twilight giggled a bit, probably just as unsurprised as I was. "I wouldn't be surprised if we all win as a team... Huh? What's wrong, Pinkie?"

Pinkie Pie was drawing near while pulling along the same pony she had approached a moment earlier. "Something's wrong with this guy! I can't get him to laugh or even smile! You think he's OK?"

Well, that was a silly question. Mimes are not exactly supposed to be all that expressive most of the time due to feigning being mute. Twilight clearly knew this too and said, "Pinkie, I think that's part of the point of being a mime. I'm sorry, sir. I hope Pinkie Pie here didn't...disturb you..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik7IdJwiYs4

It was then that we got a good look at his face. And... It was...probably the most unsettling face I had seen all night. His eyes had black mascara just under the lower eyelids that ended in a point, but the eyes themselves... They were just a single shade of red. I could not make out an iris or pupil of any sort, but he was clearly not blind. As for his outward appearance... Actually, mime is the best way I can describe it. With all those black and white stripes, he really did look like a French mime, complete with a black beret. Although I just could not tell if all those stripes on his body was his natural coloration, a pattern he dyed into it, or just clothing he was wearing. Actually, it must have been a suit since I saw no cutie mark on his flank and that his body from the waist down was just black. His black mane and tail were unkempt, messy, and even looked a bit greasy to the point were he likely greatly neglected his physical grooming. Furthermore, his white expressionless face... There was something odd about its structure. Unlike most stallions, whose muzzles point outward, his was tilted down on a bit of an odd angle to give him a quite literal long-faced look. It was Spike who revealed the identity of this unsettling stranger. "Whoa... Really convincing Long-Face costume..."

Yeah, I found that there is a hyphen in his name. Moving on... Rainbow Dash looked down at Spike and asked, "Long-Face? He another goon from the Power Pony comic books?"

Spike looked up at her and said, "Yeah! The dastardly bringer of despair! He concocts sadness gas to..."

"That sounds about right." The gloomy stallion retorted before Spike could finish. And his tone of voice... It was just...seething with depression and despair. It was quite unsettling. I did not feel concerned or worried for him. I felt genuinely unnerved by his presence. Even if he was just some guy in a costume.

"Wow... You even sound just like I'd imagine him to... You'll probably win the costume contest if you keep that up!" Spike added while trying to overcome his uneasiness. Where High Heel's impersonator was just smoking hot and the pharaoh's was kind of goofy, Long-Face's impersonator was just creepy.

Twilight then took a step forward and asked, "Are you sure you're all right? You... Is something bothering you?"

"Oh, I'm always unhappy. Nothing makes me happy. But the world... It's too full of joy. Not enough sorrow..." He replied gloomily as his glum expression started to change just slightly as his frown began to curve into a remarkably unsettling smile. "I want to share my misery with the world. And maybe with all of you..."

It was then that I happened to notice a small detail that I had overlooked. A number of glass vials containing a red liquid were hanging off his waist. They each had stoppers firmly stuck in the tops, but there something about those contents that gave me just as bad a vibe as the guy himself. Rainbow Dash, clearly taking that last line as a threat, got between him and us as he began to reach for one of the vials. "Oooooh no! Listen up, gloom and doom! Whatever it is you're selling, we're not buying! Now beat it! Scram!"

This seemed to get him to back off, but that creepy smile remained on his face. "As you wish... But I'm sure we'll meet again." He then silently wandered off, the unsettling atmosphere going with him.

It was only then that I felt comfortable enough to speak. "Ooooh god, did you feel the vibes coming off that guy?! That dude is creepy!"

Pinkie Pie gulped hard as I could see her sweating a little. "Uh huh! I've never met anypony THAT depressed! He almost sounded like he was happy being sad!"

"That's what Long-Face is all about!" Spike then added while we all looked at him. "He really is the creepiest villain the Power Ponies regularly deal with! He's consumed with despair and wants to fill the world with as much misery as he can. That's what his sadness gas does. It overwhelms your emotions with unfettered sorrow!"

"A villain who wants to fill the world with misery... As far as villain goals go, that's actually pretty disturbing! I've heard of misery loving company, but I didn't think someone would make that their philosophy in life!" I then added while feeling relief starting to wash over me now that the guy masquerading as Long-Face was out of sight. Even if that was just a guy imitating him, it was incredibly unnerving to be in his presence like that. I would rather be standing before the Mane-iac again than Long-Face if the opportunity ever arose.

Fortunately, Twilight seemed to be the voice of reason at that moment. "It's OK, everypony. Long-Face is just fictional. Everypony we meet here is just in costume. Besides, Equestria's had enough trouble with the likes of Discord, Nightmare Moon, and that Changeling invasion a couple years back. I can't imagine actual supervillains setting up shop too."

It was around that time that the usual gathering announcement was made for everyone participating in going around and gathering candy. Knowing that Scootaloo was one of them, I too joined the gathering before the stage at the town square with Fluttershy by my side. Pinkie Pie, still having quite a haul hanging from her neck, joined us as well along with Twilight and Spike.

It seemed the mayor had swapped out into a new costume this year. She seemed to be dressed up as an old fashioned metropolitan mayor, complete with shiny black shoes with white cuffs around her wrists, a tapered black coat, and a big black top hat. She then greeted us all with a smile. "Greetings, all of you! Welcome once again to the Nightmare Night festival!"

The crowd around us applauded all at once as tremors ran through the ground from their stomping hooves. The mayor then cast her gaze around at us, especially towards the youngest members of the audience. "Now then, everypony who's been out collecting sweets this evening... Please follow our friend Zecora. Tonight, she has a new tale to tell. One that I'm sure will...leave your little hooves shaking!"

She let out a bit of a forced spooky giggle before laughing enthusiastically. That mayor really seems to like Nightmare Night. Spike then snidely whispered to us, "Eh... I guess it's not so bad as long as she's not wearing a rainbow wig"

Just to the side of the mayor's podium was a burst of familiar sparkling green smoke. And out from that cloud strode Zecora. Once again, she was dressed in that witch attire, complete with little plastic spider shapes stuck in her long mane. I guess her usual attire had become mandatory for Nightmare Night if she had not changed it up. Not that I minded it. She looks really good in it and even looks beautiful with her hair let down. She cast an inviting smile towards the crowd and spoke, "Come along, my little colts and fillies. Tonight, a new tale to give you the willies."

Before long, the lot of us were following Zecora across town and towards the edge of the Everfree Forest. Along the way, I looked down at Scootaloo and asked, "So, how'd it go out there? Got a good haul?"

The tiny member of the Wonderbolts looked up at me while Fluttershy moved a bit closer to her. "Oh, you bet! Just look at this! It's almost too heavy for me to lug around anymore... Ow, my neck..."

Fluttershy grinned with a giggle while her wing reached out and lifted the back of the bag a bit to alleviate some of the strain on Scootaloo's neck. "I'll hold it for you, Scootaloo. Just let me know when to let go."

I then looked around and noticed Mitta walking nearby. She was still clad in that cloak. First Shadowmane, then High Heel, then Pharaoh Phetlock, and then Long-Face. It seemed Ponyville was filled with Power Pony fever this Nightmare Night. I was almost expecting Nightmare Moon to show up dressed as the Mane-iac by that point.

Eventually, we came to the familiar clearing at the edge of the forest that we had been looking for. And in the darkness ahead was a looming still figure. Zecora began to speak as we all fell silent. "Much has changed in Equestria, as I am sure you have learned. For earlier this year, Nightmare Moon returned."

I merely smirked and rolled my eyes while everyone around me started to look a bit spooked. Zecora was doing a good job of setting the mood. "She now walks among us once again as a mare of the night, and surely she will arrive to give us a fright. And yet, it would appear that she is not as she seems, for she now reigns from Canterlot as the Princess of Dreams."

That got me to smile. Nightmare Moon's ancient reputation was steadily being overwritten by her current legacy as the Princess of Dreams. Even the children around me were starting to calm down a bit. And soon, we came close enough to see the stone statue in the form of Nightmare Moon. But instead of the menacing visage it was showing last year, it seemed that the statue had been modified. Or maybe even outright replaced. Nightmare Moon's face showed a serene smile while one hoof was raised high, her helmet having been replaced with her crown. "A demon of nightmares no more, she now rules as a princess we adore."

The change of attitude was quite impressive even as Zecora conjured up a glittering green facsimile of Nightmare Moon clad in her crown. The children around me marveled at her regal form while it smiled down at them. Pipsqueak even approached it for a closer look. And yet, Zecora continued to speak. "Every night, she weaves her magic to bring about the sweetest of dreams. And yet, is our new princess everything that she seems?" The atmosphere suddenly became creepy again, especially with the next line. "Has Nightmare Moon truly let go of her deep-seated loathing? Or...is she merely a wolf in sheep's clothing?"

At that instant, the Nightmare Moon illusion grinned menacingly as rows of fangs lined her jaws. Before Pipsqueak could even notice, her jaws opened impossibly wide and chomped down on him only for her entire form to burst into green smoke. The fillies and colts suddenly shrieked at the sudden show of hostility with them even beginning to split up. Myself and the other adults remained calm, except for Pinkie Pie. She zipped around like the real Fili-Second, shrieking in a panic.

Zecora, reveling in her performance, conjured up a very large glittering green smokescreen around us. "She still hungers, her thirst not slakened. Even now, she prowls your dreams until you awaken. With nowhere to run in your nightmares, your hours are numbered. Until she devours your soul, leaving you in eternal slumber."

That was pretty grim. And it was really working on the kids. They were freaking out. Even I was starting to get a bit unnerved while I prepared my costume's H-Buster. In the green mist, I saw her form approaching while no one else did. "So stay awake if you can, or offer her some sweets to appease her. You never know when she may grow hungry and visit you to bring some terror."

It was then that Scootaloo noticed the false Nightmare Moon closing in and shrieked, "Agh! Dad! Shoot her! Shoot her!"

"Got it!" I replied before reflexively firing my weapon at her. But just like before, I only fired a burst of confetti along with the sound of a party blower trumpeting joining it. The false alicorn stopped in its tracks, looking genuinely confused as it got a face full of confetti. The smokescreen faded away while everyone just awkwardly looked at me. I remained frozen in place, my face starting to become hot with embarrassment. A snicker started to fill the crowd as everyone soon burst into laughter. Even the false Nightmare Moon was silently laughing at me! I let out a groan and facepalmed. "Oh my god, I just killed the mood, didn't I?!"

However, it did not take long before an ominous wind started to kick up that even blew away the false Nightmare Moon. Everyone noticed it and stopped laughing instantly. It felt like something was wrong. And when I turned my gaze to the sky, I saw what the problem was. The clouds had started to swirl and form a funnel right up to the full moon as it hung in the sky. "That's not normal..."

As we watched, something began to descend through the cylindrical gap in the clouds. It was about as much as I expected. The same chariot that Celestia had used to enter Ponyville while disguised as Nightmare Moon last year. However... The two pegasi at the front pulling it along were not what I expected. As they passed overhead, I got a decent look at them. They were clad in menacing pale purple armor with dark purple wings akin to those of a bat. What were they?! A mutant race of pegasus? Even so, while the chariot flew towards Ponyville, an air of excitement filled the air with Pinkie Pie being the first to speak. "Hey! That was Nightmare Moon! About time she showed up!"

"Oh, right! This is her first Nightmare Night! Let's hurry back and see her!" Twilight replied before we all started to rush back towards town. I was unable to keep up with them, but Twilight soon fixed that by carrying me along with her levitation spell.

Once we returned to the town square, we found that a sense of panic and wonderment had spread throughout the area. All eyes were directed skyward as the chariot circled the square. And soon, the rider leapt from it while the chariot was carried off. She descended with wings spread, their sable feathers and unique shape instantly revealed her identity as Nightmare Moon. Everypony was smiling as the Princess of Dreams landed before everyone. I knew we had nothing to fear from my dear friend. She had proven months ago that she is no longer a monster. And yet, her form was still coated in a dark cloak. What was she up to? She had already provided quite an entrance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cchfAsuK24o

She stood there, silently. Surrounded by her subjects. It was then that lightning streaked across the sky, thunderclaps booming overhead. And then, one such bolt streaked down and struck Nightmare Moon herself. However, it seemed that only her cloak was affected as it burst into flames and was reduced to ashes in seconds. It was then that she stood there exposed. But once her form had been revealed, the sense of excitement in the air had started to dissolve into one of fear. Gone was her crown. In its place, that familiar light blue helmet every last depiction of her had ever shown. And upon her face sat a cruel grin. Nightmare Moon began to cackle menacingly, giving off a presence I had never felt from her before.

As the many ponies around us began to cower in fear, Nightmare Moon began to look around herself while speaking with a condescending tone I had never heard from her before. "Oh, my humble subjects... To think that all this time, you celebrated my legacy with such a grand festival every year. And to think I once believed that you all despised me..."

She was certainly acting the part of a villain. I was not entirely certain of what to think or do. I could only watch. Soon, Nightmare Moon called out, "Mayor of Ponyville! Reveal yourself to me! Your Princess of Dreams requires your presence!"

The mayor hurriedly rushed through the crowd before bowing before her. "Ye... Yes, your highness?"

Nightmare Moon's mane suddenly grabbed the mayor by the back of her neck and lifted her up to her face. Almost forgot that her mane could do that. Nightmare Moon then said with a sneer, "I commend you for doing such an impressive job on preparing Ponyville for my arrival. I trust that my subjects have been properly entertained?"

"Oh! Uh... Absolutely! We always do our best to provide the best Nightmare Night experience possible, your highness!" The mayor replied while looking extremely nervous. And I do not blame her. Nightmare Moon was going well out of her way to behave in the way the legends about her would have one believe.

"Excellent." Nightmare Moon said before setting the mayor down. She then called out to everyone while they bowed in terror, "Hear this, my subjects! I am pleased with your efforts to honor my reign. And depending on how well this celebration goes, I may just decide to allow the sun to rise tomorrow morning. Should tonight NOT be a stellar enough celebration, I just may decide to compensate by having Nightmare Night last forever! You have been warned, my subjects!"

Yeah, that did a good job of spooking everyone. Some even tried to make a run for it, but Nightmare Moon's booming voice stopped them in their tracks. "Stop right there! Did I say you were dismissed?!"

"Oh my... She really is acting like the Nightmare Moon I remember seeing for the first time..." Fluttershy said meekly while hiding behind me. I had almost forgotten that she and my best friends had actually witnessed her original return. Too bad I was not around to see it at the time.

Even so, I was still trying to not laugh to myself from how hard she was trying to keep up such a villainous facade. "Nah, she's just having fun. This is the way Nightmare Night always portrayed her, so she's just acting the part."

"Now then... I require an escort..." The Princess of Dreams then said while scanning her surroundings. Before long, her eyes settled upon me before she suddenly pointed her wing in my direction. "You there! Step forward! I would speak to you!"

"Uh... Me?" I asked while everyone suddenly stepped away from me. When Nightmare Moon gave me no response more than a silent stare, I assumed that she really was referring to me. "Um... OK?"

Without wanting to question her further, I began to approach her somewhat uneasily while all eyes fell upon us. I tried to not look directly at her, somewhat intimidated by her aggression. She even had me kind of buying her act. Once I was standing before her, Nightmare Moon barked at me. "On your knees!"

Not wanting to make a fuss, I did just that. I dropped to one knee and bowed my head. I suspect Nightmare Moon then began to circle me. Once she was standing before me again, I heard her voice once more. "On your feet."

Once I was standing, I saw the tip of her mane reach out and tenderly lift my chin until I was looking right at her. She tilted my head from side to side while she kept tilting hers to adjust her point of view. She seemed to smirk in an almost flirtatious way before speaking to me again. "Yes, you will do nicely. Tell me, noble warrior. What is your name?"

"Uh..." I muttered before whispering quietly, "My real name or the name of the character I'm emulating?"

Nightmare Moon then whispered in reply, "The character. I'm just acting here, so you should act along as well."

Seeing that Nightmare Moon really was just putting on a show, I decided to try emulating Project H's personality. At least what I assumed was his personality as I have never actually read any comic books with him in it. "Project H, your highness. Although some have begun to call me Hunter instead."

"Very well then, Sir Hunter. You shall remain by my side for the remainder of this celebration as my guardian of the night." She replied with a smirk. The Princess of Dreams then turned her attention to the many partygoers around her. "As for the rest of you, carry on! Let this Nightmare Night be the greatest Nightmare Night in the history of Equestria!"

Some people applauded, but many just went back to their activities while clearly intimidated by Nightmare Moon's performance. I am not sure how many of them actually believed that she was really her original persona or just our beloved Princess of Dreams having fun with the occasion. Once there was really no one around us, Nightmare Moon whispered to me with a bit of an uneasy smile, "You think I overdid it a bit?"

"Eh... Maybe. You even had me going for a minute, I'll admit." I replied before reaching out and holding her in a tender embrace. "So good to finally see you here. I bet no one ever thought they'd see the Mare in the Moon attending the holiday celebration that she directly inspired."

Nightmare Moon let out a chuckle as she draped her wing over me in an embrace of her own. "Yes, and I did quite a bit of research on it to make certain I'd make the perfect debut. How'd I do? Simply spooktacular, was it not?"

"Yup! Luna sure fit in, but you wear Nightmare Night even better, m'lady!" I retorted while Nightmare Moon let out a chuckle. It was then that I noticed my group of dearest friends starting to draw near. "Hey, girls! How'd she do?"

"Waaaaay too similar to how she was when she first showed up. I almost thought I was gonna zoom up to Canterlot to grab the Elements of Harmony!" Rainbow Dash replied while she set down on the ground nearby.

"Oh, please! I assure you my days as an envious usurper are long gone! I was just acting the part of my original persona." Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes while making a snide rebuff. However she then gave my friends a bit of an awkward stare. "Come to think of it... Who are all of you masquerading as? Those are some very flashy attire."

Twilight smiled while glancing down at Spike. "Spike, do your thing."

"OK! Uh... Hang on." The dragon child replied while his face was obscured by the tiny mountain of candy in his grasp. Finally, he let out a sigh and said, "Pinkie Pie, please do something with this. I don't care where you put it, but please just keep it somewhere safe until when we go home."

"Oki doki loki!" The goofy mare replied before she reached out and took Spike's candy pile and stuffed it...somewhere behind her. "There you go! It'll be safe and sound until you want it back. And I promise I won't eat any."

"Thanks! Anyway..." Spike spoke while turning to Nightmare Moon and extending his hand towards our friends in order. "We're the Power Ponies! Guardians of Maretropolis and comic book superheroes! Here we have Masked Matter-Horn, Mistress Mare-velous, Fili-Second, Zapp, Saddle Rager, Radiance, and me as Hum Drum! Although Hum Drum's supposed to be a colt, but there's nothing I can do about that... Oh! And James here is Project H! He's getting his own comic book series starting up next month! And it's gonna rock!"

"Yes, Project H... I seemed to recall Luna going on about something like that when she was reading a new comic book not too long ago. She sounded quite upset about something by the time she finished reading it." Nightmare Moon muttered while trying to recall something. It really sounded like Luna has turned into something of a geek lately. And I mean that in a good way.

"Yeah, that was an awful way ta end that pilot... But anyway, I've been seein' some folks dressed up as some supervillains 'round town. Mitta's even goin' as that Shadowmane crook. Maybe y'all will see 'em sometime. I'm kinda surprised ya didn't go as the Mane-iac! Yer hair would work the same as hers." Applejack then added while looking over yonder to see Mitta walking along with the kids. She sure does wear that Shadowmane costume well.

Nightmare Moon merely scoffed at Applejack's suggestion. "My apologies, but comic books just aren't my thing. Ask Luna. Maybe she'll try going as her next year."

Rarity seemed interested in the idea, but then tapped her lips a few times with her hoof for a moment. "Interesting idea, but... Ugh, you absolutely need to have the proper hair for that disguise. I could provide the costume, but..."

"Well, never mind then. We can discuss such a thing another time. For now, I've got a lot of catching up to do and our friend here will be serving as my escort." The Princess of Dreams replied while touching my shoulder with her wing tip. "Shall we catch up later?"

"All right, your highness. James, please make sure she has a good time." Fluttershy said while smiling as our friends all seemed in agreement.

I nodded and said, "Will do. We'll catch up later."

While the rest of my friends went off in different directions to enjoy themselves, Nightmare Moon and I followed Applejack back to her apple bobbing tub. There was no line yet, so Nightmare Moon stepped forward while I watched. Applejack turned to greet her guest and said, "You up for bobbin' for apples, yer highness?"

"Bobbing for apples... Classic." My royal friend replied while eyeing the apples floating on the surface of the dyed water. But when she tried to grab one in her mouth, she missed. That, or she could not get a grip on the smooth rinds while they sank and bobbed in the water. After a couple of tries, she smirked and used the levitation spell to lift one out of the water and chomped it down with one bite. "Who says I have to follow the rules?"

I could not stop myself from snickering at my friend circumventing the rules of apple bobbing just to get a snack. Applejack took it in good grace and rolled her eyes while letting out a chuckle. "Heheh... Well, I reckon I can let this one slide. This night's all 'bout you, so I can letcha get away with that one."

"Much obliged, Mistress Mare-velous. Now then, where shall we go next, Sir Hunter?" Nightmare Moon then spoke while she turned to me.

While I thought about what attraction we could check out next, I heard what sounded like a loud splattering impact from nearby. It seemed that the pumpkin catapults were in use. "How about those?"

"Catapults? With pumpkins? That would make for quite an effective tool against approaching enemies..." She muttered quietly before showing an intrigued smile. "I suppose I can test it."

We headed over to the catapults, where three targets were lined up in the distance. And quite a good distance away at that. Once it was her turn, Nightmare Moon used her magic to load up a rather hefty pumpkin into the bowl-shaped bucket at the end and pushed down to prime the mechanism. The frame lacked wheels, so its aim was already set. It seemed to rely entirely on how much pressure was applied to the arm to get the pumpkin to fly far enough to hit the target. She soon stepped back, letting the catapult launch the pumpkin far ahead before it was splattered against the target. The bystanders got a good show out of it and even applauded Nightmare Moon, but she seemed a bit disappointed by the results. "Huh... Still intact? I suppose pumpkins do not make for the best projectiles after all."

I snorted at such an observation. She was taking that little game way too seriously. "I'm pretty sure this is an activity referred to as 'pumpkin chunking', to be honest. How about the spider toss over there?"

That got her attention. Right as she looked, someone dressed as a ghost tossed a fake spider through the air only for it to fall just short of the spider web net ahead of the basket full of extra spiders. I noticed a smirk spread across her face before trotting over to it. Getting the feeling that she had a trick up her sleeve, I followed.

Nightmare Moon was next in line and held one of the fake spiders on her upturned hoof. She then whispered to me, "Luna taught me a little something that she did during her first Nightmare Night. Watch this."

Having not been present during Luna's initial return, I watched curiously to see what Nightmare Moon was alluding to. She tossed the spider without much fanfare only for it to fall several feet short of the net. A quiet murmur ran through the ponies who had stopped to watch, but his did not faze Nightmare Moon in the slightest. "Did I say you could stop short? Move! To the net!"

Well, that certainly got awkward. Nightmare Moon was barking orders at an inanimate spider. However, her horn was then coated by her deep blue magic aura. "I said...MOVE!!!"

She launched a bolt of magic right at the fake spider while the gleaming energy engulfed it briefly. Once the magic faded, it seemed to be a bit different. It had turned a shade of grayish tan. But then...it started to move. The spider turned around to face us, revealing several menacing little red eyes on its round fuzzy body. Even though its body was not anatomically correct for an arachnid, it was clearly alive. I jumped back while everyone else also yelped and shrieked in shock. "Hey, not cool! That's creepy!"

Nightmare Moon glared at the animated toy before pointing to the net. It then turned around and crawled up the webbing and stayed right in the center. Nightmare Moon then smirked and said, "Ha! Perfect aim as always! Was there any doubt?"

The audience applauded in awkward tension, but I could only bow and shake my head while snickering. Nightmare Moon then tapped my shoulder to get my attention. "Well then, how about one of those hayrides? Seems like a good way to relax for a bit."

"Sounds good to me." I replied while looking over yonder to see Big Macintosh chatting with Apple Bloom while hooked up to a wagon stuffed with hay. He was certainly looking sophisticated with that top hat and black cloak.

"Excellent. But first..." Nightmare Moon spoke while smirking. She then pointed her horn at the basket of spiders and gave it a zap before all of the toy spiders began to crawl out of it much to the bystanders' horror. "Have fun! Mwahahahaha!"

"Oh crap, that's creepy! I ain't having any of that!" I made a run to the wagon while the animated toy spiders started crawling everywhere and onto everyone. They seemed to lack fangs, so they could not possibly bite anyone, but they were raising quite a bit of mayhem. The spell would probably wear off in time though. "Uh... Hey! Big Mac! Got room for two?"

"Eeyup." He replied while looking back at me. Apple Bloom had also run off once she noticed the spiders crawling everywhere.

Nightmare Moon then trotted over to me while I gave her a bit of a scowl. "You know this probably won't sit well with your sisters, right?"

She did not seem bothered at all and even chuckled at my words. "Oh, hush. They would've expected the original Nightmare Moon to do something like that. Besides, they're harmless!"

"Point taken. Guess you've gotta play the bad guy sometimes." I replied with a bit of a snort. She was being a very playful sort of antagonistic person, although that last stunt was something I would have expected from the likes of Discord instead of her!

Right as Nightmare Moon was about to climb into the wagon, we were suddenly approached by one of the two armored pegasi who had been pulling her chariot along when she first arrived. His unnaturally dark appearance coupled with his almost reptilian eyes and bat wings gave him quite a menacing visage. He even seemed to have a sword affixed to the side of his armor. "Your highness. We have finished our sweep of the village and everything seems normal."

"Well done. Join the rest of the guards in maintaining order." Nightmare Moon replied before the guard bowed and flew off before she climbed into the wagon while I followed her. I kept my eye on the strange guard before he was out of sight. My constant observation did not go unnoticed. "Something troubling you, James?"

I turned to face her as the wagon began to move. "Uh... Yeah. That guy just now. What is he? Some sort of mutant? Or a pony and bat hybrid? That can't be natural."

This actually got a laugh out of her. "Oh, of course not! Although I can certainly understand your confusion. No, that is merely the result of a bit of illusion magic. It's strictly for aesthetic purposes to help them better blend in with the night. That branch of the royal guard reports exclusively to myself and Luna. They are the night watch and were established shortly after Luna's return. The reason you have probably never seen them is that they are most active starting at midnight. But rest assured, they are every bit pony as I am under that facade. The spell just wears off once they remove their armor. In fact, the spell itself is infused with their armor."

"Huh... Never would've guessed that. Clever." I muttered while reclining on the layer of hay. Very soon, Nightmare Moon joined me while gazing up at the stars and Luna's beautiful glowing moon. "Nice night, huh?"

She nodded while turning her head to look at me. "Very. And I've been truly enjoying myself so far. And it's quite a bit of fun to mess with everypony like that."

"Yeah? Well, don't overdo it. Wouldn't want you to relapse." I replied while smirking with my arms behind my head. Nightmare Moon took it in stride, snickering loudly beside me.

A moment went by while we merely watched the sky, listened to ponies around us, and seeing the decorations at the tops of buildings just beyond the sides of the wagon. Eventually, Nightmare Moon spoke softly to me. "Six months... It feels like it's been so much longer than that."

It did not take much thought to realize what it was she was talking about. "Yeah... A lot has happened since that night. It's great to have you here, Nightmare Moon. Everyone loves you now."

"All thanks to you, my friend." She retorted promptly. I turned to look at her only to find the Princess of Dreams looking right back at me. Her expression was serious and even melancholy. "It is all thanks to you that I am even here now. I pray you have not forgotten that."

"I really didn't do all that much..." I muttered before being silenced as her hoof tenderly touched my chin.

I could say nothing while Nightmare Moon gazed at me with those beautiful eyes. My hand unconsciously rose and gently grasped her hoof. "You are too modest... I still remember. You came back to me. You did all you could to not raise your sword to me. And in the end, you were the one person in the world who never gave up on me... Everything I have... I owe to you."

It was then that she pulled me close against her sleek dark body, her arms holding me in a trembling embrace. "There are no words to describe what you mean to me, James. I... I cannot lose you. You have always been my guiding light... Ever since the night you first reached out to me... Without you... I would be lost."

Her words were heavy with emotion. Words I am sure she had been keeping hidden. And they sank deep. I whispered to her, "Nightmare Moon... What am I to you?"

Her response was brief, but it was all she needed to say. "Everything."

Those words were all I needed to hear. I reached out and held her against me while one wing was draped over my body. I had always adored her. We have always been close. But hearing those words... It was as if something lit up inside me that had been silent until then. I reached out and placed a soft kiss upon her cheek. "Then...I'll always be here for you. I'll keep guiding you any way I can."

"Your words soothe my soul, my dear..." She whispered back while also placing a kiss upon my cheek. At that moment, we started hearing a rising noise consistent with the activity around the town square. Nightmare Moon then whispered to me in a slightly happier tone of voice, "Now, let us disembark from here. If anypony sees us in such a position, it will generate quite the scandal."

Big Macintosh brought the wagon to a stop not far from the stage before Nightmare Moon and I hopped down from it. There seemed to be quite a crowd gathered before the stage and it seemed the mayor was approaching the podium to deliver an announcement. Nightmare Moon then whispered to me, "Seems the drawing for the best costume prizes are about to begin. For now, I must go find my sisters, so go enjoy yourself with your friends. All right?"

I nodded and gave my royal friend a parting hug. "Will do. I'll let you know who won in the end."

While Nightmare Moon trotted off to find Celestia and Luna, I approached the back of the crowd to find my closest friends gathered together. While scanning ahead, I even saw the ponies dressed up as Long-Face, Pharaoh Phetlock, and High Heel. It seemed the guy dressed as the pharaoh had even convinced quite a few friends to dress up as his mummy minions to complete the look as quite a few identical mummy costumes dotted the crowd. "So, the mayor's doing costume calling? I totally forgot to vote."

"No biggie! It looks like there's some stiff competition tonight anyway, so who knows who will win?" Pinkie Pie replied while we all turned our eyes to the stage ahead. The mayor was just starting to take a stand at her podium before tapping the microphone to test if it was active.

"Welcome back, everypony! I know what you are all wondering. Who was it who displayed the most Nightmare Night spirit? Who sported the most impressive costume? Now that your votes have been tallied, we'll have the answers for you in just a moment!" The mayor spoke over the microphone before everypony applauded with a mass stomping of their hooves. I merely crossed my arms, choosing to wait until the names were called. The mayor then literally took off her top hat and pulled out a note before setting it on the podium. "Now then... At third place, we have... Huh?! What're you doing?! Off the stage!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3epEVMNJdY

Right as the mayor was about to make her announcement, we were greeted by a most perplexing sight. The various ponies dressed up as mummies swarmed right onto the stage and piled onto the mayor like a chain of sentient bandages. This was so bizarre and out of nowhere that nopony in the entire crowd knew what to make of it. Was it all part of some act? Even the guards who were stationed near the stage seemed unsure of whether or not they should step in! Rainbow Dash merely laughed and said, "Whoa! Looks like the mummy mob couldn't wait their turn!"

"I dunno about that, Rainbow... This is all part of the show, right?" I asked in return while the mayor seemed to be struggling to pull herself free from the mummy pile. It was actually pretty hilarious to watch, largely because of how out of nowhere this development was.

Finally, just as the mayor yanked herself free and the mummy pile started to break up, we were in for another surprise. In the commotion, the mare dressed as High Heel had slipped onto the stage. And just as the mayor climbed to her feet, the femme fatale stepped out from behind the pile and grabbed the mayor before holding her hoof up to her neck. In particular, the stiletto heel was aimed right at her throat. She then dragged the mayor back over to the podium while she spoke into the microphone with such a smug succulent tone. "So sorry, everypony, but as of this moment, we're in charge."

The entire crowd began to mutter and talk to each other while I could only look on in bewilderment. That mare was certainly going the extra mile to pass for such a villain. Fluttershy then asked, "Oh dear... Um... Should we be worried? This never happened before..."

"Yeah, this ain't part of the usual ceremonies... They new 'round here or somethin'? Pretty sure I'd recognize 'er if she'd been around earlier." Applejack added while looking and sounding just as confused as everyone else.

The High Heel imposter quickly started to sound a bit annoyed over the mic as she was clearly getting annoyed by the crowd's lacking response. The mayor just remained silent, almost as if she was worried that the heel held to her throat was actually dangerous. "Now, if you want your mayor to... Hey! I'm talking to all of you! Don't you know a hostage situation when you see one?"

I actually started to snicker at the actor's frustration. Spike then provided a proper retort as he shouted, "Maybe we'd be playing along if you let us in on the act ahead of time!"

"Act?! That's what you think this is?!" The High Heel actor sounded genuinely annoyed by that response. She then called out over the mic, "Pharaoh, get up here and help me with this!"

"Right, right! Just a second!" The guy dressed as Pharaoh Phetlock called out before he pushed his way through the crowd and jumped up onto the stage while his mummy friends just stood around as if waiting for further instructions. The High Heel impersonator then stepped aside with the mayor still tightly in her grasp while the pharaoh took the stage before speaking loudly over the microphone in a very grand manner while gesturing with his arms. "You heard her right, everypony! As of this moment, this little town belongs to us! Now, if you want your precious mayor here to remain unharmed, you'll cooperate. Understood?"

"Wow, those two are good. Are they auditioning for a movie or something?" Twilight asked while everyone else still seemed unsure of just how seriously to take the situation. I know I was.

Rarity then replied with a bemused stare, "Your guess is as good as mine, but they are certainly acting the part of a typical villain."

It was then that even the pharaoh was starting to get annoyed by the crowd not showing a proper response to a hostage situation. "Are you even listening?! I said... Wait a second... Where even is this?"

Just when the situation could not get any funnier, the pharaoh took the mic and trotted over to the mayor before holding it up to her face by his wrist. "Miss mayor, what town is this anyway?"

While clearly intimidated and confused at the same time, the mayor still provided an answer. "You don't know? This is Ponyville!"

"Uh... Ponyville?" The pharaoh asked in very clear bewilderment while the crowd even started laughing at his obliviousness.

High Heel then spoke with the mic broadcasting her voice to everyone, "Never heard of it."

It was at this point that the guards seemed to feel the act had gone on long enough. Eight royal guards, two of them consisting of the guards who arrived with Nightmare Moon, gathered at the edges of the stage while the crowd backed up a bit. One of them then called out, "All right, that's enough! If this is some sort of prank or act, it's going too far! Release the mayor!"

It was then that the pharaoh gave them a sly smirk even as the mare dressed as High Heel gave them an equally smug sneer. The pharaoh then held the mic to his lips and spoke softly, "I don't think so. Long-Face, why not lend us a hoof with these pests?"

At that instant, the stallion dressed as that mime shot up from the crowd with wings spread. He then seemed to hurl a couple of objects at the guards, all eight of them being engulfed in a dark mist as the sound of shattering glass filled the air. Following right after that sound was the wailing of grown men crying loudly as the eight guards just collapsed while engulfed in extraordinary sorrow. I then asked, "Uh... The guards are just playing along, right?"

"I dunno... It's easy to fake a smile, but it's really hard to fake sorrow like that!" Pinkie Pie replied while the atmosphere had gone from being comical to actually kind of unsettling. The guards had been rendered completely incapacitated. And where were the princesses?! Surely they would know if this was all an act.

"Well done, Long-Face! From laughter to tears at the blink of an eye, as usual." The pharaoh spoke over the mic as the wailing guards just writhed on the ground pathetically. It was really embarrassing to watch, actually.

The Long-Face impersonator then spoke over the mic with that incredibly unsettlingly depressed tone of voice I had heard earlier while cracking an unfitting smile. "If you have any suspicions about this being an act, the sorrow you see before you should erase those doubts. Now, I suggest you start taking this situation seriously, or..." He then reached for his waist and lifted one of those glass vials in the air for everyone to see. "You'll all be having a very sad time."

Just to prove his point, the actor hurled the vial right into the crowd as the sound of glass shattering reached my ears while a burst of dark mist rose from it. Almost immediately, several partygoers burst into uncontrollable crying and sobbing while being too overwhelmed to even move. That was all it took for me to realize that, as outlandish as this sounds, this hostage situation was not an act. And those ponies in costume up on the stage were not random strangers dressed for the occasion. I muttered a bit loudly, "That gas is the real deal... But that means..."

"Pharaoh Phetlock and his mummy minions... High Heel and her stiletto blades... Long-Face and his sadness gas... They're real supervillains!" Spike shouted in shock as the crowd began to dissolve into shouts and yells of terror as the grave seriousness of the situation began to make itself known.

Right as the crowd was starting to flee, High Heel yelled over the microphone. "HEY!!! Not another step! Or else your precious mayor here will be...getting my point."

Upon closer inspection, I could see that High Heel was pushing the tip of her heel just barely into the mayor's neck. Not enough to cause harm, but enough to make the mayor squirm in discomfort and fear. That threat was all it took make everyone stop in their tracks. Rainbow Dash then whispered loudly, "Dang, they're serious about this! But if they're real super villains... That doesn't make any sense! How'd they get in the real world?! That spell that sucked us into the comic book world doesn't work in reverse, does it?! And when did it happen?!"

My friends bickered amongst themselves while I tried to think of what had happened. Thinking back to the day when Spike triggered the spell that sucked us all into the Project H pilot, it seemed it happened when he examined something on the inside of the back cover. The same page I had that comic book open to while looking at the illustration of Project H when...

"Oh...my...god... That comic book I was holding this evening!" I all but yelled while I facepalmed. That book had been open to the page where the same spell was implanted when Twilight zapped me with her magic to create my costume!

Twilight clearly remembered it too. "Wait! You mean THAT comic book?! Come to think of it, that thing was giving off some sparks after I used my magic on you."

I growled in irritation while the real Pharaoh Phetlock continued to bark demands over the microphone. "Man... That spell must've triggered that portal spell somehow. And apparently, it caused it to work in reverse and sucked those villains right out of it and into our world. Thank goodness the Mane-iac didn't tag along."

"Then... They're real supervillains! What do we do?! Find the princesses?!" Fluttershy asked while starting to back away in fright. With us standing so far away, the supervillains had thankfully not noticed us yet.

Applejack flashed us a confident smirk. "I'll tell ya what we oughta do. Let's take them varmints down!"

That sounded like an absolutely terrible idea. We were not dealing with a trio of weirdos. These were hardened criminals tough enough to require the Power Ponies to defeat them. I then said, "Now hold on a minute, AJ. You do know you're NOT the actual Power Ponies, right?"

Rainbow Dash seemed to like Applejack's idea if that cocky smirk said anything about it. "Hey, she's right! I bet we could take them!"

"Not me... I can't fight... And... It's too dangerous for..." Fluttershy muttered while casting her gaze back to her belly. I instantly knew what she was referring to.

Rarity realized this too and stepped up beside her best friend. "I agree! Fluttershy can't possibly place herself in harm's way while with child! And I doubt I would be of much help without my superpowers. We'll sit this one out."

"Me too! I can't zip around like the real Fili-Second all the time! Only when it's funny." Pinkie Pie added while stepping over to the two beautiful mares. However, I could only snort while rolling my eyes in disdain while listening to that absurd toon logic.

Spike then asked, "Well... What about me? Can I help?"

Twilight wasted no time in thinking of a way for Spike to pitch in. "Absolutely. Spike, go back to Rarity's house and get the comic book you left there. We're going to need to send those villains right back where they came from in the end."

"Oh, right! OK then, I'll be right back! But be careful! High Heel's got all sorts of shoe-based gadgets, Long-Face might have some tricks up his sleeves, and Pharaoh Phetlock at least knows how to brawl. And don't let those mummy minions swarm over you either! Watch yourself, Power Ponies!" Spike then said in warning before he ran off in a hurry.

"Well, that still leaves me, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. I think my magic should be enough to compensate for my lack of superpowers." Twilight said while lifting her head as her pink magic aura surged around her horn for a few seconds. "What about you, James? I bet we could use a little help from the mighty Project H."

As much fun as it would have been to join in as Project H, I was far from emulating that marvel of science fiction. "Do I have to remind you that this is NOT an actual suit of cybernetic armor? I'm completely unarmed here aside from some goofy party cannon on my arm!"

This did nothing to dissuade Rainbow Dash. She hovered up to my side and nudged my shoulder with her elbow. "Yeah, but I bet that costume can still take a beating. Come on, it'll be awesome!"

"I reckon Rainbow's right, James. I betcha you'll help out somehow." Applejack added while Twilight seemed to be surveying the situation. Leave it to her to come up with a plan in tricky situations.

With a sigh, I gave in. "All right. But if things get too hairy for me, I'm gonna make a run for it."

Nopony seemed to mind. Twilight then turned to us and spoke softly. "OK then, let's go over how we're gonna do this. I'm going to teleport right behind High Heel and blast her away from the mayor with a magic bolt so the mayor can get away. After that, they'll probably come after us. All we have to do is find some way to restrain and subdue them so I can try to use a spell that'll suck them back into the comic book. And if we're really lucky, maybe Princess Celestia, Luna, or Nightmare Moon will show up to help. I hope they aren't too far away."

I too was left wondering where the three royal sisters were. Had they stepped inside the town hall or something for a private chat? Or were they watching from the shadows while trying to decide how to deal with such a risky hostage situation? Nightmare Moon in particular would be quick to put those scoundrels in their place. Regardless, it was time to act. I then looked towards the stage, the situation having not changed while Pharaoh Phetlock kept barking demands about any rare artifacts in town. "Got it. Lead on, Twi."

"All right. Let's try to have fun with this." She replied while her horn's magic aura began to surge. A few seconds later, she vanished in a flash while appearing in an identical flash up on stage and behind High Heel and the mayor. High Heel seemed to detect a disturbance due to the flash of light from the spell's use, but had no time to react before she was blasted from behind and sent flying off the stage while dropping the mayor in the process and letting out a startled shriek.

"Next, gather all the toilet paper for... Actually, never mind. We're not barbarians! You can keep the toilet paper. Instead, I want all the bits in town melted down to make... Huh?! High Heel, what're you doing out there?!" Pharaoh Phetlock shouted upon seeing High Heel land on her face out in front of the stage. Even everypony else seemed shocked by this development while the mayor made a run for it.

"Ow... Who did that?!" The dazed femme fatale yelled while she climbed to her feet. That blast really seemed to knock her for a loop.

The group of mummy minions looked to their left to see Twilight, as did Pharaoh Phetlock and the gloomy Long-Face. The pharaoh then spoke over the microphone, probably just because he liked making other people hear his voice. "Well well well... The mighty Masked Matter-Horn. Never expected you to show up. And I have to say I'm liking the new colors. Been dying your hair lately?"

"I guess you can say that. And I didn't come alone." Twilight replied before teleporting back out in front of the stage. It was then that I approached the stage along with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "I brought some friends!"

"Yup! And we're gonna give you varmints a whuppin' y'all won't soon forget!" Applejack called out as she reached for her rope, completing the look of Mistress Mare-velous. I just hope she did not really plan on throwing those horseshoes. They would probably bust some bones for sure...

Rainbow Dash then hovered up beside me while throwing a few mock jabs with her hooves. "So, you chumps gonna just give yourselves up or what?! Don't make me come over there and suplex ya into the pavement!"

It was at that moment that I realized the three supervillains were giving us some of the weirdest looks I had seen all day. Long-Face then leaned towards Pharaoh Phetlock while being heard over the microphone, "They don't sound like I remember them..."

High Heel then provided further commentary while giving Applejack quite a cockeyed glare. "Something's not right... I don't recall the brave and bold Mistress Mare-velous sounding like a total hick."

Something about that term seemed to strike a nerve in Applejack as she gave the femme fatale a very harsh glare. "Oh, I'm gonna mess that floozy right up. Around here, them's fightin' words."

I took a step away from my country friend. She sounded madder and broodier than I had ever heard before. It was then that Pharaoh Phetlock spoke over the microphone again. "Hmmm, yes... Whatever happened to your knightly conduct and presentation, Zapp? And what's with that absurd rainbow pattern in your hair?! You sound so undignified now!"

"Hey, nopony disses my rainbow do! It makes me stand out! And... Uh..." Rainbow Dash yelled before she started to quiet down as a very uneasy grimace spread across her lips. "Uh... Girls, I think they're starting to figure it out..."

And indeed they did. High Heel then grinned while letting out a laugh. "Ohoho my god! Now it all makes sense! I was wondering why you were completely nonhostile towards me earlier. You're all a bunch of imposters! This town is defenseless!"

I was completely unsure of what to say at all. I was mostly just along for the ride, but I was starting to feel exceptionally nervous. I lacked all of the senses and functions of the actual Project H and I was standing surrounded by lots of people who personally know me. Needless to say, I was not liking the extra attention.

Finally, Rainbow Dash yelled at the laughing villains. "Oh, shut up! Just because we're not superheroes doesn't mean we can't take you on! You're in our town and you're not welcome! So put 'em up!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdzbmbG8mys

"Seems you cretins need to learn your place. Time for you to bow before your pharaoh! Mummy minions, put down this uprising!" Pharaoh Phetlock shouted as he bounded down from the stage. The groaning mummy ponies flooded off the stage in droves while Long-Face reached for a vial of his sorrow gas in each hoof. That smirk... Utterly chilling from someone like him.

"Oh boy... Here they come, girls!" I said while priming my H-Buster for action. But would it be enough to actually do some damage?

"Right! C'mere, ya skank! I ain't takin' yer trash talk in my town!" Applejack yelled before twirling her lasso overhead and flinging it at High Heel, who expertly weaved around it as if performing a dance. "I said C'MERE!!!"

"You're definitely no Mistress Mare-velous, but you're not bad with that rope either." High Heel said with that alluring smirk. With a swing of her hoof, she hurled her own shoe at Applejack's hoof. My friend narrowly avoided the toss only for the shoe's narrow heel to pierce the ground itself like a spike. If that had hit... Ugh, scary thought. Those supervillains do not mess around.

"Whoa... I ain't used ta doohickeys like that!" Applejack yelled after almost having her hoof skewered. She tried hurling one of her horseshoes at High Heel only for the femme fatale to narrowly evade it. I doubt she even knew that it was a regular horseshoe and not a restraining device, although the heavy clanks of it flopping across the ground did seem to get a weird gaze from her.

I then turned my attention to the sound of glass shattering. Long-Face was hurling vials at Twilight while she set up a spherical barrier around herself to cause them to bounce off. After a moment, she lowered her barrier while Long-Face chucked another at her. Instead of hitting the ground by her, it was caught in Twilight's magical grasped and shot right back at Long-Face. It struck him in the head, bursting and releasing its liquid payload while the concoction vaporized upon being exposed to air and completely engulfed him. "Got him! That's one down!"

However, as the mist cleared, it revealed Long-Face just hovering there unharmed without a single tear dripping down his face. He even seemed to be smirking. Twilight then asked, "Wait... You're not... What's going on here?! Why aren't you crying?!"

"That's easy, Matter-Horn. I'm already consumed with despair. I have no tears left to shed. However..." He replied with such a creepy tone of voice while reaching for more vials of his vile concoction. "You look like you still have plenty in your eyes. Let me coax them out of you."

This time, he hurled both vials at Twilight. She let out a startled yelp before using the teleportation spell to evade it. She then tried to shoot him down with magic bolts, but Long-Face proved himself to be an agile flier and weaved around the shots while retaliating with his own sorrow gas vials. Why does no one call it sorrow gas instead of sadness gas? Sorrow is the more powerful word.

Rainbow Dash was having by far the best time against Pharaoh Phetlock. She kept zipping around his mummy minions with her absurd speed and even went flying right into him with a dropkick before he could even react. After being sent rolling away, he yelled, "This doesn't make sense! Why are you dressed as Zapp, but have the powers of Fili-Second?!"

"That's because this speed is all natural! They don't call me Rainbow Dash for... Huh?! Hey! Get off!" Rainbow Dash said in return before noticing that one of the mummy minions had snuck up to her and tangled the bandages that made up its arm around her leg. Seems they really are hollow. A few more managed to get themselves tangled on her limbs before she could go airborne while they weighed her down.

"Ha! The real Power Ponies would know better than to turn their backs on my minions! That'll keep you under wraps for a while!" The pharaoh cackled as Rainbow Dash struggled to get herself free from the minions clinging to her. He then turned his gaze to me while looking quite confident. "Now then... I don't think I noticed you there earlier... You're joining in on this too?"

I grumbled to myself while taking aim at him with the false H-Buster on my right arm. "Yes, sir. I'm in this too."

That seemed to be the reaction he was hoping for as he burst into a run towards me. "I'll say it again! Fantastic costume, I must admit! But let's see what you're really made of!"

I winced at the thought of him landing a kick on me. Pharaoh Phetlock is an earth pony, so his physical might must have been relatively impressive. I waited until he was around fifteen feet from me before I took a shot at him. Since he did not even try to weave around me while I kept my aim on him, he must have assumed that the H-Buster on my arm was a prop. And it pretty much was. When I fired, I just heard a party blower go off while a puff of confetti engulfed him. The pharaoh even came to a screeching stop in front of me while giving me a look that seemed to show he had no idea what in the world even happened. "Uh... What was that?"

Starting to feel more and more frustrated, I fired another shot into his face. The pharaoh then slowly started to look more and more like he was about to bust a gut. I growled at him, "Don't you dare..."

And that is what he did. Phetlock burst out laughing to the point of rolling on the ground. "What was thahahahat?! A confetti cannon?! Oh, that is just rich! That's something I'd expect from Hum Drum!"

I felt myself fuming over this embarrassment going too far as the pharaoh trotted away howling with laughter. On the verge of throwing a tantrum, I turned in the direction where Pinkie Pie had been hiding. "Pinkie! Get your butt over here and fix this!"

She then zoomed over to me... Or rather, her haunches did. I have no idea how she did it, but her body extended like taffy until only her rump was standing before me. I had no idea what to even say to that. What, was she trying to be the literal butt of a joke? My frustration being too flared up to even try to find this funny, I then yelled out to her again. "And the rest of you!"

It was only then that the forward half of her body zipped over before she hopped and turned around. "Whatcha need, James?"

"First of all, never do that again! Secondly, do something about this stupid party cannon so I can actually help out our friends here!" I yelled while pointing at the fake H-Buster on my arm.

"Oki doki loki! Just lemme take a look at it." Pinkie Pie replied while she grabbed my arm and started smacking the armored shell and even shoving her hoof through the H-Buster's mouth somehow. "There you go! Give it a shot?"

"OK then?" I muttered before shooting at the sky. And once again, I got a burst of confetti being serenaded by a party blower. "Oh, come on! I meant to make this more functional as a weapon!"

Pinkie Pie did not seem all that worried though. "Did you try charging it this time?"

"Charge it? Uh... Hold on." It never occurred to me to do that, funnily enough. I looked around, trying to find someone to test it on. It seemed the pharaoh was sitting back and enjoying the show as Rainbow Dash zipped around while four mummy minions were affixed to her limbs and messing up her flying. Twilight was still trying to shoot down Long Face as they exchanged shots, and Applejack and High Heel seemed stuck in a tug-of-war match of sorts. Applejack seemed to have gotten her lasso stuck around what seemed to be a huge sneaker-type shoe while High Heel was trying to pull it free by its very long laces. For the moment, it seemed to be a stalemate. My eyes then settled on Pharaoh Phetlock since he seemed to be doing absolutely nothing for the moment. "OK, I've got someone in my sights."

I braced the H-Buster with my left hand and took aim while that familiar high-pitched hum started to emit from my right arm. It even started to glow around the mouth as if drawing in energy. I was starting to feel really excited as it reached maximum charge. "Ooooh man, this just might work!"

"Cool! Have fun! I'll just be over there." Pinkie Pie replied before she ran back over to her hiding spot with Rarity and Fluttershy.

I tried taking aim for the pharaoh's head, not expecting Pinkie Pie's modifications to have done anything to make the party cannon on my arm anymore dangerous. "Hey, pharaoh! Say cheese!"

It was then that I unleashed the charged energy of the H-Buster. I got to hand it to Pinkie Pie. I really was not expecting what I got. A red boxing glove on the end of a rapidly uncoiling spring shot forth from the H-Buster and scored a literal sucker punch on the pharaoh's chin just as he looked my way. It hit the poor sod hard enough to send him flying in a back flip of sorts before landing on his face. The spring and the boxing glove on it rapidly recoiled back into the H-Buster while I could only look on at the dazed pharaoh. I then looked down at my arm cannon and snicker while almost dropping to my knees in suppressed laughter. "Ohoho my god, Pinkie... Not what I was hoping for, but hey! I'll take what I can get!"

Applejack seemed to notice my surprise shot at Phetlock and spoke through her teeth without losing her grip on her lasso. "Woo! Nice one, James! Now THAT'S how ya throw a punch!"

Pharaoh Phetlock soon staggered to his feet while rubbing his chin. He then glared at me with such an irritated look. "Huh... And here I thought you were just a harmless performer. Well, I've got my own pony pyramid routine to show you!"

At those words, the mummy minions who were not already engaging Rainbow Dash or anyone else suddenly started hopping onto each other's shoulders until they formed a towering pyramid formation of bandaged bodies. I hunched forward with my arms hanging low, finding this gag to be very corny. "You're really big on those desert puns, aren't you?"

"It comes with the profession! Now, go forth, my mummy minions!" Phetlock shouted before his minions rapidly dismounted each other in a drove of white bandages before they charged right at me.

"Aw, crap! Back off!" I yelled while charging up my H-Buster before launching another spring punch at the mummies. It slammed into one's head and completely floored it, but it did nothing to the rest of them. And since the H-Buster takes a few seconds to charge, I would never take them all out. And I was not willing to test exactly how dangerous those mummies were. So I turned and ran. "Nope! I'm not having any of this!"

The mummies just started chasing me in literal circles around the town square. It must have looked utterly silly to see someone who looked like a robotic sentinel fleeing from little mummy ponies. At one point, I tried climbing a lamppost that had some decor I could cling to for extra support after climbing onto a crate set and jumping from it. Wile the mummies clambered below me more like a swarm of zombies swiping at me, I fired out shot after shot from my H-Buster in a steady rhythm. "Oh my god... Would you all just... PISS OOOOFFFF!!!"

It was actually getting creepy! And even though I was scoring powerful blows to their heads, the lack of anything inside the wrappings resulted in my shots not having all that much impact aside from knocking them down. And if I dropped down, they would just swarm me and... I do not know. Tie me up and take me back to the pharaoh as a hostage? I have no idea what they do in the comics...

"That's quite enough!" I heard a familiar voice call out before all of the mummies got yanked away while engulfed in a billowing golden yellow magic aura. They were all stuffed into the domed bucket at the end of one of the pumpkin catapults nearby as the catapult was forced to turn before launching the entire swarm of mummies right back towards the area where the scuffle was taking place. I recognized that color of magic right away. "Looks like you were having fun. Everything all right?"

I looked around from my location and saw Celestia approaching me with Luna by her side. "Heh... Yeah, I thought that was you... Uh... Would you mind helping me down from here? I'm afraid to let go..."

"Leave it to me, my friend." Luna replied while I was coated in her blue magic aura and lowered gently to the ground. "So, let me get this straight. Those three out there and those mummies are not street performers, but are the actual supervillains from the Power Ponies comic books?"

"Uh... Yeah, looks like it. And I don't think they're really pulling their punches... Hey, wait a sec! Why aren't you two helping out?! With your power, you could totally floor all of them!" I replied before suddenly realizing that Celestia and Luna combined have more than enough magic power to completely overwhelm such smalltime supervillains. The Mane-iac would likely be trouble, but those three, and even Pharaoh Phetlock's mummy minions would surely not be that much trouble.

Luna chuckled at my words. "Well, that makes for quite a treat! I thought they sounded a bit too authentic to be just imposters."

Celestia then smirked while rolling her eyes before saying, "Well, I suppose we could step in, but that would cause the fun to end too soon, wouldn't it? Have you been paying attention to the crowd? They're loving the spectacle! It's not everyday you get to see supervillains going at it with superheroes!"

"But that's just it! We are NOT superheroes! We barely know what to do with those guys! And I'm all but helpless with such an unconventional weapon stuck on my arm!" I replied with a sense of irritation filling my senses. It was not often that the royal sisters did something that got on my nerves.

"Actually, your friends seemed to be holding their own quite well. Besides, it would not be interesting if the conflict was not a challenge. But as for you..." Luna spoke before a silver chalice appeared beside her in a flash of light. "I do believe we have something here to compensate for your lack of a means to defend yourself."

I recognized that chalice immediately and gave Luna a smirk. "Oh, you did not just bring that stuff along, did you? Really? My armor?"

Celestia seemed to be in on the plan too as she giggled excitedly. "Well, Luna suggested it in the first place. We brought it along just in case you did not have a costume to wear. However, we left your weapons behind since you would not be needing them. Or so we thought. However, had we have known that THIS would be happening..."

"Hey, it's cool! I'm sure I'll get by just fine with my magic alone. And if I can wear that armor while also wearing this illusionary facade as Project H..." I began to reply before coming to a stop. I thought back to the adventure I had in Maretropolis and then cross-examined those memories with memories of using my armor's capabilities. "Oh my god... Come on, suit me up and put this disguise back on me!"

"Eager, aren't we?! One moment." Luna replied before she seemed to be casting a spell. A few seconds later, I was engulfed in a flash of light before finding myself in just my clothes. However, Luna then began snickering as she pointed at my arm. "Uh... James, what's that on your arm?"

"Huh? Oh, don't tell me Pinkie actually..." I lifted my right arm as I felt something weighing it down just behind the wrist. Indeed, Pinkie Pie had tied a miniature party cannon to my forearm. "I didn't think she was that serious about it... And just WHEN did she sneak that in there?!"

I yanked that thing off my arm and set it on a nearby stall. Now feeling annoyed once more, I snatched the chalice's lid off and stuck my fingers into the liquid metal lying within while kicking off my shoes. It began to creep over my body and rapidly hardening. After what felt like far too long, I was clad in my gorgeous suit of armor once more. I flexed my wings and focused my magic to insure I still knew how to use everything. "Yup, I still got it!"

"Hold on a minute, James." Celestia then said while she used her magic to summon something in a burst of light. It was my helmet, the Element of Humanity still snugly set into the forehead section. "Can't go into battle without something to protect your head."

"Heh, right. And I need something to serve as the medium for Project H's helmet." I replied before taking my helmet in hand and setting it upon my head. I could hear its long ethereal mane extend from the backside, although it would not be there for long. "OK, how about putting my costume back on? I'm sure everyone would want to see Project H with the Power Ponies out there."

"Hmm... Good point! Hold still. You still remember how that character looks, right?" Luna asked in return while her horn was coated in her billowing blue aura.

"Yeah, pretty much. Let's do it." I then locked eyes with Luna while she seemed to focus. Seconds later, my entire body was engulfed in a flash of light only to reveal that my armor had reverted to the beautiful sci-fi look of Project H's body. I tried focusing to prepare my gauntlets' magic auras and found that, while not visible under my disguise, I could feel them resonating. "Sweet, thanks! So, can I still... Yup, the flight thrusters are opening when I try to move my wings! This disguise is foolproof!"

Celestia and Luna could only grin and snicker at my enthusiasm before the Princess of the Dawn said, "Looks like you know exactly what you're doing, my friend. And this will make for an excellent opportunity to practice using magic."

However, Luna's expression then became more stern. "A word of caution. Do not attempt to use anything more advanced than fire and ice magic. You have not had the required training needed to properly harness their superior states."

"Yeah, I know. And I doubt I'll need them... Hey, wait. Is Nightmare Moon around? She didn't leave, did she?" I then asked while looking down at my arms. The H-Buster was already primed and ready and would probably do a good job of replicating the real thing.

Celestia seemed to scan the rooftops while looking for something. "Oh, she's around somewhere. She said she's going to observe this most recent development before jumping in at just the right time."

However, Luna then spread her wings wide while flashing me an enthusiastic smirk. "But enough talk, Project H! Assist the Power Ponies against these dastardly fiends! Ponyville needs you!"

I almost burst out laughing at that. Luna was really getting into the spirit while Celestia could only snicker at her sister. After composing myself a bit more, I held my head high. "Will do, your highness. I'll put those mavericks down for good!"

Not wanting to leave my friends hanging any longer, I felt my wings carry me high into the air as the false thrusters on my back flared up. I soared over the rooftops before dropping down quickly and landing bit harder than I was expecting. I dropped to one knee while propping myself up with my left hand. The area fell silent as the villains set their sights upon me.

I felt a bit nervous, to be honest. Even though I was about as close to imitating Project H as I would ever get, I still did not feel everything I felt while essentially being him in the comic book world. And the audience was not helping. My friends could only look back at me while Twilight asked, "Huh? When did you get back, James?!"

However, Pharaoh Phetlock merely gawked at me. "What? Back for more? Are you going to rain down confetti on this party and maybe even put up a disco ball to start a rave while you're at it?!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI0CxTgpA6Q

The pharaoh and even High Heel were just laughing at me, but Long-Face was smirking deviously at me. It looked like they had untangled the ball of mummy minions that the royal sisters had tossed their way as well. Still, it seemed I had the element of surprise quite literally up my sleeve. While the villains gawked at me, I rose to my feet and pointed the H-Buster at Phetlock while channeling my magic in my right gauntlet. I wanted to make my reintroduction as short and sweet as possible while I felt a smirk spread across my face. "Bang."

It was at that moment that I expelled the spell. From my arm cannon came a golden yellow magic beam that shot forward and hit Phetlock in the face with enough force to send him flipping backwards several times before landing on his chest without even really knowing what hit him. That shut them up right away, but it also caused the audience around us to burst into absolute hysteria as they cheered, screamed, and applauded to see the closest thing to the actual Project H finally on the scene. And I was feeling pumped. "All systems are go. Who's next?!"

While Pharaoh Phetlock staggered to his feet, High Heel took a step forward while looking defiant. "Huh... So the real deal decided to show up to this festival of phonies, huh? I'm gonna enjoy taking you apart, metal head!"

Just as the villains seemed to be getting ready for another round, we were interrupted as several colored stage lights began to shine down on the area from the stage behind them while roaming over the dance floor. It was then that I saw the local DJ at her booth up on stage adjusting something on its surface. She then called out, "We're gonna need some sick beats for this one! Power Ponies are in the house!"

It was then that the sound system started putting out a really heavy electronic tune that seemed to fit a robotic hero like Project H. And it was causing the situation to feel a lot more fun. With my armor's magic at my disposal, it was about to get as real as possible. While the villains lined up, Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash jumped into place beside me while flashing me some excited grins. Applejack then said, "Ain't no way we're lettin' ya have all the fun, pardner!"

"Wouldn't have it any other way, girls." I replied while glancing at them out of the corners of my eyes. While I was starting to gain some confidence, it was very reassuring to have my friends at my back.

Rainbow Dash then began to hover and threw a few jabs. "Right. Let's mess them up!" At those words, we charged. I was almost not used to being able to run as swift as a pony once again and nearly stumbled at first, but I quickly caught my stride.

The villains charged us as well along with the many mummy minions swarming towards us as well. Rainbow Dash went for the mummies, Twilight went for High Heel, and Applejack went for Pharaoh Phetlock. That left me with Long-Face. And it would probably be best to take him down first due to his sorrow gas. One whiff of that stuff and my friends would be down for the count. Nothing saps you of your fighting spirit like sorrow does, making Long-Face the overall greatest threat. "You and me, gloomy goon!"

"Heh, fine. I'll share my sorrow with you." He said while showing that unsettling smirk. He hurled several vials in quick succession at me, but I was able to shoot them down with magic shots that hit hard enough to shatter the vials in the air. I was mindful to keep my distance. Even though I was masquerading as a mechanical hero, I was far from mechanical and was every bit as vulnerable to the depressing effects of that gas as everyone else.

For the moment, it seemed that Long-Face was out of sorrow gas vials. I then took aim at him in the hopes of knocking him out with another magic shot. But when I fired, he narrowly ducked it and came swooping low right at me. And it was then that I noticed something shiny extend from his wrist when one of the stage lights shone over him. A needle? A syringe?!

"Crap!" I yelped while narrowly swooping to the side as my costume's boot thrusters flared up in response to my evasive maneuver. Long-Face came to a stop while hovering nearby as I could clearly see a syringe extending past his hoof. And it was likely full of a similar fluid used in his sorrow gas. "Oh, hell no! I hate needles! You keep that junk away from me!"

Long-Face seemed to revel in my show of uneasiness. He then lifted his other hoof across his chest as another syringe extended from under his sleeve. "What's the matter? Don't like feeling sad? Don't worry. I promise it'll only hurt for a second."

"Dude... You're messed up!" I yelled before firing off another volley of magic bolts from the H-Buster. Long-Face proved his aerial evasiveness was quite impressive as he weaved around every shot.

I was starting to freak out. The only part of my body exposed was my neck and face and those were some of the last places I wanted to receive an injection. Just as it seemed like Long-Face was going to make another swoop at me, Rainbow Dash came swooping in and kicked that perpetual mope skyward. "I got this one, James! You handle the rest with the other girls!"

"Thanks! Just be mindful of his wrists! He's packing needles full of that junk he uses for his sorrow gas!" I yelled back while watching Rainbow Dash pursue Long-Face into the air. They became trails of black and white and rainbow stripes while they zipped around through the air trying to outdo the other. Still, would Rainbow be able to contend with him without getting a quick prick of his vile drug?

"Hey, pretty boy! Try one of these!" I heard High Heel shout at me before I turned to her and saw her about to hurl one of Applejack's golden horseshoes at me. She probably snatched one up after Applejack missed her. She hurled it like a boomerang, but I was already thinking up a means to stop it.

"I got this one." I muttered before lifting my left arm while channeling the magic in my left gauntlet. I had already gotten the H-Buster working. It was time to power up my defenses too. "Frost Shield!"

A kite shield made of magical ice quickly formed over the outer end of my left forearm while emanating from the shield generator. The horseshoe hit hard, but barely chipped it. I then retaliated with a trick of my own. With a slight twist of the spell I was using, I had several thick ice spikes extend from the front of the shield before having it fly towards her with a little levitation. I very narrowly missed the startled femme fatale as she jumped to the side only to get snagged in Applejack's lasso. "Thanks for the assist, pardner!"

"Hey! You're not taking me for a ride, you hick!" High Heel shouted while lashing out with her hind hooves even as her arms were pinned to her body. And with those spiked stiletto heels on the tips, Applejack had to be extra mindful of how close she let her enemy get. She even had to release her grip on her rope, untying High Heel in the process. However, it was during this moment that Rainbow Dash and Long-Face ended up swooping lower towards them. Long-Face was still going for Rainbow Dash in an attempt to inject her with his serum.

Applejack was quick to intervene and used her lasso to reach out and snag Long-Face around his leg. When it became clear to him that he was being restrained, he smirked at Applejack while reaching for another vial of sorrow gas. "You want some of this, Mare-velous?"

"Ehhh... Nope!" She replied before swinging the mopey villain around with him letting out a yell of surprise before she released him from the lasso. It must have been a really clumsy dismount since Long-Face was unable to stop himself from falling and hit the ground a good distance away from us. He must have dropped his vial too since I heard that shatter right after that.

Unfortunately, I soon heard a familiar voice starting to sob and wail from the edge of improvised battlefield. Looked like someone got caught in that gas cloud. And I was quick to recognize the voice. "Aghhahahaaaa! Mooohahahommmm!"

"Oh man, not Button Mash! Sorry, kid!" I yelled as I could see poor Button crying his eyes out just a bit beyond Long-Face's location while over bystanders could only look on in pity. Poor kid. It always hurts to hear him cry.

However, it seemed that Long-Face seemed quite proud of himself for spreading the effects of his sorrow gas to someone... All right, I know it is canonically called sadness gas, but I am calling it sorrow gas and I am sticking to it. Regardless, he started to stand up while eyeing Button Mash with a smirk. "Ah... The young are so easy to bring to te... OW!!!"

"What the... Who's that?!" High Heel yelled while looking on as someone in a hooded white robe smashed Long-Face over the head with a wooden staff.

Long-Face began to push himself away from the furious cloaked mare, but I could hear his assailant yell quite clearly for us to hear. "You stay away from my Button!"

"Your wha... Ow! Stop it! I said... Ouch! Please, I didn't... Agh! HELP!!!" Long-Face yelped and shouted in pain before he finally scrambled to his feet and fled in terror while the hooded Eleina charged after him with staff ready for another beat down.

"Dang, Eleina! Nothing like one mad mama protecting her kids!" I said in bewildered laughter. And I always thought Eleina was a drop-dead gorgeous sweetheart! Just goes to show the most devoted mothers are just a step below the scariest demons in terms of sheer terror when their kids are on the line. Even a seasoned supervillain was running scared from her.

"Heh... He should've known to stay away from the kids. Anyway... I'm not done with you!" High Heel yelled before she charged in swinging at Applejack. Fortunately, Rainbow Dash intercepted her with a quick kick. That sent her a good distance away from them. But once she was back on her feet, High Heel rose onto just her hind hooves and assumed what was clearly a combat stance with her arms. "Oh, so you want some now?"

High Heel was clearly ready for a brawl, which Rainbow Dash was too quick to accept. She cracked her wrists and flexed her neck while showing that confident smirk of hers. "I've got this one guys. Just a fair warning! Black belt in karate right here!"

Rainbow Dash then took a stance very low to the ground just before charging High Heel. The two mares engaged in a rapid trading of attacks ranging from quick jabs to sweeping kicks and even in High Heel's case a jumping double roundhouse kick. They seemed to be evenly matched, and that is saying something as Rainbow Dash is someone who really knows how to fight! Applejack then seemed to look over her shoulder to see Twilight trying to hold off both Pharaoh Phetlock and his mummy minions. And were there more than I remembered? "Hey, James! How 'bout ya go help out Twi? I'll keep an eye on Rainbow and jump in if she needs some backup."

"Gotcha, AJ. Lemme know if you need some extra firepower." I replied before running on over to Twilight while she was trying to repel the mummies with blasts of magic. They kept trying to swarm over her only for a spherical barrier to pop up around her, but the sheer numbers combined with Pharaoh Phetlock continuously bashing a folding chair against it was clearly draining Twilight's mental stamina.

"Crap, she won't last that long in there..." I grumbled while being barely able to see Twilight through the mob of mummies and their pharaoh. There must have been twice as many as there were at the start. Did Phetlock conjure up more while I was not looking? Thinking fast, I began to charge up the H-Buster for a stronger shot by charging another spell. Rather than fire off a beam, I was going for a concussive burst to be lobbed at them like an orb. Once I felt I had charged it enough, I fired a shining golden yellow orb of magic at the swarm of mummies and watched them get blown clear of Twilight by the resulting explosive burst of magic. Phetlock was sent sprawling too as if he had no idea what hit him.

It seemed that blast had also hit Twilight as well since her barrier dropped immediately afterwards while she looked visibly dazed. "Whoa... Was that you, James?!"

"Sorry, Twi! I was kinda hoping they'd absorb the shockwave!" I replied before rushing to her side before the mummies could regroup. "Looks like sheer numbers is their strongest asset. You OK?"

Twilight shook her head to clear her vision before looking up at me. "Yeah, I can only hold off so many! I haven't had to put up with something like this since the Changelings invaded Canterlot a while ago!"

The mummies were already regrouping to form another solid wave of bandages while their leader barked commands from nearby. "You can't handle this many of my minions! Drown in a sea of bandages!"

I got between Twilight and our assailants while preparing a different spell in my right hand. I supported my right arm with my left hand while taking aim as I felt a smirk spread across my lips. "Then let's turn up the heat! Fire Wave!"

At those words, a massive torrent of magic fire exploded from the H-Buster and engulfed the swarm of mummies. I kept the huge gout of fire going for several seconds before deciding to cancel the spell. Once I did, all I saw were piles of burning fabric littering the ground. And Phetlock could only look on in silent horror as every last one of his mummy minions were reduced to ashes. I lowered my arm and snickered loudly at just how easily I had annihilated that empty goons. "Guess you should've used fire retardant materials instead, pharaoh!"

Twilight seemed to have been caught entirely by surprise when I unleashed that fire on our enemies. "Whoa... James, I almost forgot you could do that! Did Princess Celestia sneak your armor down here?"

"They sure did. And it's coming in ha... Hey!" I started to say before yelping in reply as I unwittingly used the levitation spell to grab and hurl Pharaoh Phetlock away from me when I noticed him charging right at me with a sword in his mouth. It seemed he had retrieved it from one of the incapacitated guards nearby. "Huh? So, you're up for a duel, your excellency?"

The pharaoh sneered at me while clutching that sword in his teeth. "Well, it's the best I've got right now! I've come too far for this pyramid scheme to fall apart now!"

"You want me to take him on, James? I'm sure I can handle him by myself." Twilight then offered while peeking out from behind me. I was considering it, but Long-Face was still on the run from a furious Eleina and High Heel was definitely preoccupied with Rainbow Dash, so there was not much else I could do aside from facing the pharaoh. It would not be very fair to just shoot him into submission, so I glanced around for a weapon to use knowing that the H-Saber in the holster on my thigh was probably not even there. I saw something I could use right away. A sword hilt was at the side of one of the night watchmen as he lied groveling on the ground while lightly sobbing.

"Nah. I got this one, Twi. I think the crowd's wanting to see this too." I then retorted while deactivating the H-Buster and using the levitation spell to pull the distant sword from its scabbard and calling it to my hand. Once it was in my grasp, I found it to be disappointingly short at probably just under two feet in length, which was the same length as the one Pharaoh Phetlock was holding. Still, better than nothing and it was definitely made for the job. That, and I knew that the pharaoh's sword would never get by my armor. I then pointed the sword at him while Twilight started to step away and said, "Your move, my liege."

"Ha! Bring it on, you tin can!" He shouted before performing a leaping chop with his blade. Fortunately, I had decided to compliment my sword with another improvised ice shield projected from the fake shield projector on my left arm and blocked the blow easily. Ice is not an easy substance to cut through, let alone magic ice. Its shape and color were remarkably similar to the particle shield used by Project H himself, which I am sure our audience was just digging like a shallow grave. Needless to say, the pharaoh was not pleased by the sudden generation of a shield while he could not hold one. "Hey, no fair! You know I can't hold a shield like you!"

"Then grow an extra arm!" I replied before taking a swing with my blade. I was not really trying to hurt the guy, but it was still mystifying on how he was able to parry my swings with that sword in his mouth. How do you stallions out there do that?! Furthermore, he was fast on his feet and his smaller size made lashing out at him extremely cumbersome and awkward. I would have had a better time facing someone of a similar height to myself. It did not help that the short reach of my blade made it harder to reach him. It did not feel like I was using a small sword, but rather that I was using a sword whose blade was improperly designed. At least by human standards. Finally, I got fed up with the stalemate we were in and just kicked the pharaoh away to get myself a moment to try something new.

"How's about this, pharaoh?" I asked while holding my sword out to my side while channeling my gauntlet's heat-based magic right through the blade. A rope of fire extended over the blade and reached out twice as far as the blade itself, becoming a sword of fire. I then smirked at Pharaoh Phetlock and shouted, "Here's another old favorite! Magma Blade!"

I performed a quick swing of my flaming sword only to see a crescent wave of fire get launched from the blade. Phetlock let out a surprisingly high-pitched shriek as he narrowly hopped out of the way of the incoming fire wave that streaked along the ground before fizzling out in a trail of embers. The crowd was going mad with cheers and applause while I started to get the feeling that the battle would not be going on for much longer.

Against my better judgment, I turned my attention away from the startled pharaoh and looked towards Rainbow Dash and High Heel as they continued to scrap. It looked like both had managed to land blows on each other as a few tears in Rainbow Dash's suit could be seen. Applejack was edging closer, probably for a chance to take a swing at the femme fatale. Rainbow clearly noticed this since during a moment where the two of them got some distance from each other, she reached back and tapped hooves with Applejack. "OK, that's enough for me. Let's tag out!"

"Gotcha, RD!" Applejack replied while High Heel came charging in for antoehr swipe at Rainbow's head. However, Applejack then slipped around Rainbow while in the process of turning around. I felt myself stop breathing as I saw High Heel did not have enough time to really react to what was coming. "This one's for earlier, ya floozy!"

Oh my god... Knowing how strong Applejack is, I cringed when she kicked High Heel in the gut and sent her flying over towards one of the nearby stalls. I covered my mouth with my left hand while trying to not awkwardly laugh. "Ohoho god, AJ... That had to hurt!"

High Heel went crashing right into a large wooden crate that had been set up next to one of the food stalls and knocked it right over. But what came spilling out were... Wait a second. Were those all a bunch of fancy shoes? And where did they come from? High Heel certainly seemed flustered when she saw them spill out onto the ground and almost looked like she was about to panic.

Just before I could think about why they were there, I heard Rarity shout out while running over to us from her hiding spot. "Hey! Those are... YOU!!! Get away from those! They're all custom designs and my commissioners will be arriving to collect over the next few days! Keep your hooves off of them!"

Well, that should have been expected. Since the villains had likely emerged from the comic book right where Spike had left it back in Rarity's own house, it was no wonder High Heel would have taken an interest in the custom footwear she must have had lying around. High Heel quickly took an interest in Rarity while standing before her pile of loot and said, "Well, so Radiance has an imposter here too? But to be fair, that white and indigo goes so much better with your attire than her yellow and lilac. I really must commend you on outshining the real deal."

This praise really seemed to get a smile out of Rarity. At least for a few seconds. "Oh! Well, I certainly did my best to replicate that fantastic suit to... Wait... Forget about that! Those are MY designs and you're not having them! Now step away from those shoes and nopony gets hurt!"

Rarity's threat did nothing to dissuade High Heel from pilfering my beautiful friend's handiwork. "Nopony gets hurt? Big words coming from a dime store seamstress with no superpowers! I saw those designs you still had in your place. Trust me, I've seen better. Unless your clients have really poor taste, that is. Although these shoes are definitely just my style. They'll go great with my collection back... Uh... Hey, what's with that look?"

Something about those words seemed to ruffle Rarity greatly as she seemed to dissolve into silent rage. Her magic aura flared up around her horn while the dropped spears by the guards, six in all, floated over to her while High Heel's eyes opened wide in disbelief. "Oh... It... Is... On!"

Applejack, who had been standing back while waiting for a chance to get to High Heel, immediately backed away in fear of Rarity's wrathful tone. "Whoa nelly...! She's gonna make ya eat those words, ya floozy!"

It was at that moment that Rarity let out a one scary battle cry before hurling all six spears at High Heel in rapid succession. Leave it to someone insulting Rarity's work to get under her skin. High Heel was quickly backed into a corner as she was forced away from Rarity's custom footwear while doing everything she could and using all her gadgets to try to ward off Rarity's weapons. Sheesh, I just now realized how incredibly capable Rarity is while getting the most out of such simple spells. Aside from Rainbow Dash, she might be the last person I would ever want to get into a fight with.

I only just then realized that I had forgotten about Pharaoh Phetlock and glanced behind me to see him considering sneaking up on me. However, his attention was drawn to the edge of the battlefield before he smiled in inspiration. "Ah, you!"

"Huh?" I muttered while he ran over to the edge of the battlefield to the crowd of bystanders. And he ran up to...Mitta?

"Ah, Shadowmane! I had no idea you showed up too! What're you waiting for?! Lend us a hoof with this imbeciles!" Pharaoh Phetlock shouted while very clearly mistaking Mitta for the real thing. Could he really not see that it was not the real Shadowmane at all?

Mitta was understandably confused and started to back away. "Me?! Um... Well... I'm not really..."

"No time to talk! Come on! Give me a hand with that robot guy!" Phetlock demanded before he literally picked her up in his hooves and ran back towards me with the startled mare being held above his head. He soon tossed her through the air while yelling, "Go get them!"

Mitta managed to land on her hooves, even though she stumbled a bit. I was trying so hard not to laugh at this case of mistaken identity as the false Shadowmane joined the fight. Well... OK, not really. Pharaoh Phetlock then charged right back at me, but all I could do while dealing with him was keep my eye on Mitta. She just stood there like a deer in floodlights as the mayhem went on around her. Me clashing with Pharaoh Phetlock before her, Rainbow Dash and High Heel really going at it to her left, and Long-Face still struggling to escape one mad mother to her right. Finally, after kicking the pharaoh away from me, I called out to her while trying to not laugh. "Oh my god... Mitta, what're you doing?!"

She looked right at me with a completely confused expression and asked, "I have no idea! What should I do?!"

I finally busted out laughing while being unable to stand up straight. "Just... Ohahaha.... Just get outta here!"

And that is exactly what she did. Mitta bolted for the edge of the area and hid back in the crowd. However, Pharaoh Phetlock seemed to notice this. "Hey, Shadowmane! Get back here... Oh, fine! I'll do it myself!"

I turned around to see the furious pharaoh charging right at me with the clear intention to stab me in the back. I flashed him a startled glare and faced him before swinging my flaming sword at him, launching another crescent wave of flames that struck the ground in front of him. "Hey, back off!"

"Gah! You just won't make this easy for me will yo... Huh?! Hey! Put me do... Ack!" Phetlock started to say something to me, but was then snatched up in Twilight magic aura and tossed aside. He landed a good distance away while dropping his sword.

I looked behind me to see Twilight walking up to me with a frustrated scowl. "Don't you think we should be wrapping this up by now? I mean it's been fun, but we've got to get these supervillains back into that comic book. Where's Spike anyway?!"

"Uh... Right there?" I replied while seeing the dragon child running our way with that comic book of his tucked under his arm. He came to a stop for a few seconds while eyeing Pharaoh Phetlock while he climbed to his feet. With a clear smirk on his face, he ran towards the groveling pharaoh. "Huh? What's he up to?"

"Oh boy... I really hope he knows what he's doing..." Twilight muttered while an uneasy grimace covered her face. Still, Spike knows those supervillains better than we do. He probably knew exactly what he was doing.

I watched while the pharaoh glared at us before Spike ran right up to him. "Hey! Pharaoh Phetlock! You gotta see something!"

"Not now, kid! I've got bigger problems to deal with! Now where's my sword?" Phetlock replied while he started glancing around for his dropped weapon.

Spike then held the comic book up to the pharaoh's face while holding it open for him. In hindsight, this was a really risky move as Pharaoh Phetlock could have destroyed the book right there. "No, you've gotta see this! It's all about you!"

That got his attention. A gleam of intrigue filled Phetlock's eyes while he then took the book in his hooves before sitting himself down and reading through it. "Ooh, all about me?! Well, it's about time I started getting the cognition I deserve as pharaoh! Let's see here..."

He just started reading through the comic book without ever looking around at us. Spike just stood by him with his arms crossed before looking at us and waving as if to tell us to not worry about him. Twilight then looked up at me and asked, "You think Spike's just keeping him preoccupied so we can focus on the other two?"

"Looks like it. But where's... Jeez!" It was at that moment that a thunderclap filled the air while lightning streaked across the sky. This got everyone's attention while we all looked up. A figure stood atop the stage as it spread its wings. The shape of those wings... Had she been up there all along?

The figure flapped her wings and took to the air while me and my friends quickly backed away from the dance floor that had served as the battlefield. High Heel's attention was directed upward to watch the descending figure while a noticeably battered and bruised Long-Face hurried over to her before he too started to watch the descending creature. The DJ had even turned the music off, filling the air with an unsettling silence.

The winged figure landed in the center of the dance floor. Nightmare Moon had revealed herself. Her unnatural eyes glared around while calling out in a powerful commanding tone. "What is the meaning of this?! Who dares disturb this celebration in my name?!"

Long-Face and High Heel's apprehensive expressions became ones of bewilderment as they got a good look at the Princess of Dreams. Nightmare Moon soon turned her glare towards them. "Aha! So it is you! Explain yourselves! How dare you bring such mayhem to my Nightmare Night?!"

It became clear far too quickly that the two supervillains did not see her as a threat. Did they think she was just someone in costume? Long-Face even seemed to snicker a bit and said, "You know... If it wasn't for the fact that Nightmare Moon no longer exists, you would actually be really scary."

Nightmare Moon's head snapped back in disbelief while her expression changed to one of shock. I could not believe they were not taking her seriously! Did they really believe absolutely everyone around them were just ordinary people in costume? Nightmare Moon even asked, "I...beg your pardon?!"

High Heel soon let out an amused laugh. "Well, I have to say your costume's the most impressive yet. Even so, everypony in the world knows Nightmare Moon is long gone. But how did you pull off the physical look?! It's not easy to fake that kind of look!"

At first, Nightmare Moon scowled in clear disappointment. But then, that scowl turned into a smirk while her horn was coated in that deep blue magic aura. "Fake? I'm sorry, but... Did you say...fake?" It was then that her eyes were engulfed by a bright white glow as her mane and tail began to waver wildly. "Well... Would you call this display of power fake?!"

Wild cackling escaped Nightmare Moon's throat as magic lightning burst from her horn and rained down around the two supervillains, narrowly missing them as they immediately began to cower before the magical might of Nightmare Moon. She then grinned wickedly at them and spoke, "I am Nightmare Moon! Queen of Night Terrors! Tell me, why should I not destroy you where you stand?! Out with it! Give me one good reason why I should not execute the two of you!"

Once more, Nightmare Moon held her head high and cackled wildly while her mane and tail greatly expanded and reached into the sky like a swirling rising glittering blue cloud as more magic lightning shot through the air. Even the audience looked like they were on the verge of fleeing in terror! But finally, we got the response from the two villains we were hoping for. They threw themselves at Nightmare Moon's feet while babbling incoherently in terror as they pleaded for their lives. They knew they were entirely outclassed by the Mare in the Moon herself. I could only shake my head while muttering, "Good grief, Nightmare Moon... You're good."

Just when it looked like High Heel and Long-Face were on the verge of tears, Nightmare Moon's eyes lost their glow while her mane and tail receded back to their original sizes. She then spoke boldly while also sounding calm at the same time. "Very well. I shall spare your lives this time. But only because I am in a good mood."

The two of them let out a huge sigh of relief, but were then captured with chains and shackles around their necks that seemed to be conjured from nowhere as Nightmare Moon cast another spell, the metal appearing to be made of the same alloy as the rest of her armor. Long-Face then let out a disappointed sigh while he finally regained that utterly blank expression I had come to loathe seeing on his face. "Well... This is a new level of depressing. We didn't even get the chance to fight back..."

"Oh, shut it. We're lucky to be alive after crossing Nightmare Moon. Just shut up and hope she doesn't vaporize us." High Heel growled while looking quite uneasy. And she had every right to be.

"Now then, let's just go round up that false pharaoh associate of yours." Nightmare Moon said mockingly while really trying to play the part of a cocky powerful tyrant. She was doing a really good job to the point where I was trying to not snicker at her performance. My friends and I then approached Pharaoh Phetlock where he had been for the last several minutes and saw Spike watching over him. But...something was not right. "Now then, pharaoh. You... Um..."

Nightmare Moon was left momentarily perplexed by what she was seeing. The comic book had been set down while open to the final page as Pharaoh Phetlock himself was rocking back and forth in some sort of...fetal position while hugging his hind legs against his body. The expression on his face... Traumatized is the only way I can describe it. I then asked, "Uh... Hey, Phetlock? You feeling all right?"

Fluttershy then approached him as her compassionate nature started to emerge. She smiled sweetly and looked him in the eye while he looked at nothing in particular at all. "Its OK now, Mr. Phetlock. Can you tell us what's wrong? I promise it'll all be OK."

He then replied with a very wavering tone in his voice, "Do you mind...? I'm having a bit of a meltdown here!" He then fell over onto his side while sucking on his hoof like a toddler. Just... What the hell?

Even High Heel and Long-Face had no idea what to say to this! The looks on their faces just said it all. What in the world happened to him? Pinkie Pie then looked at Spike and asked, "Uh... Wow, Spike! What in Equestria did you do to the poor guy?!"

Spike smirked smugly while his arms were crossed. He then looked at us out of the corner of his eye and said, "Pharaoh Phetlock's always been something of a wuss. I just had to show him something that would be too much for his mind to take. He's really emotionally sensitive sometimes."

I looked at the comic book and saw that the last page showed him in a couple of panels being captured after a failed scheme and being hauled off by the police force of Maretropolis. He had read a story about... I winced as I looked back down at the traumatized pharaoh. What he had just seen was not meant for his eyes. "Sweet Jesus, kid... That's just... You... Oh my god, that's just cruel!"

I know we should not have laughed at the poor guy's misery, but we could not help it. Not that I think he even noticed. Nightmare Moon then asked, "Well then... How exactly did these three get here?"

"Uh... Yeah, that..." Twilight replied while sounding noticeably uneasy about the whole thing. "Apparently, a spell I cast somehow caused the characters in that comic book to get drawn out of it and into the real world. But I'm pretty sure I can send them all back! Just get them all lined up and I'll see what I can do."

Phetlock did not take this well at all. He sprang up while remaining seated and scoffed defiantly at Twilight. "Oh, sure! Go ahead! Send us all back to being 'fictional', why don't you?!" No kidding, he actually made air quotes with his hooves at that moment. It looked like finding out he is only a fictional character was hitting him really really hard at that moment.

Applejack seemed pretty concern over the pharaoh's distress and even spoke up in an attempt to calm him down with a reassuring smile. "Hey, easy there, fella. What's eatin' ya? Wanna tell us what's wrong?"

He crossed his arms while looking away. "Oh, nothing's wrong. Nothing at all. Nothing except the fact that I just now discovered that MY ENTIRE EXISTANCE IS A COLOSSAL LIE!!! Is that good enough for you?!"

Pinkie Pie tried to smile to make him feel better while she pulled out her bag of candy from seemingly nowhere and held it out to him. "Hey, it'll be OK... Here, have some candy! I've got plenty to share."

Pharaoh Phetlock looked down at the collection of candy being held before him. At first he said nothing while giving it a very glum stare. Soon, a stream of real tears began to trickle down his muzzle before he squinted his eyes shut. "It... It doesn't change anything!"

My god... The poor guy just burst out crying. And it was not a sort of over-the-top crying one could laugh at. It was true sorrow. I felt so bad for the guy and I could tell all of my friends did too. Spike in particular looked like he was absolutely ashamed of himself while he just looked away.

While Phetlock just sat there crying his eyes out, I heard the jingling of chains as someone stepped forward. And I saw who it was. High Heel reached out and set her hoof upon the pharaoh's shoulder, which eventually calmed him enough to stop wailing out to us. He then looked over his shoulder at her while she displayed a remarkably sympathetic gaze. "Hey... Listen. Who cares what you saw? So what if you showed up on the pages of a comic book?"

We all only looked on in silence as the situation became increasingly somber and delicate. Pharaoh Phetlock could only stare at his associate as the tears began to slow. She then cast him an unexpected smile and said, "You're real enough to me."

That was...surprisingly sweet of her. And it seemed to get through to him as well. Phetlock managed to start smiling again even while he started to chuckle. As he wiped his tears away, he muttered out a reply. "High Heel... Really... Thank you. I needed that. Just... It's so terrifying to imagine that your very existence doesn't matter at all like that..."

Long-Face remained silent the entire time, probably because someone as gloomy as him had nothing positive to say. Spike, clearly trying to perk up the forlorn pharaoh, stepped forward with his comic book in hand. "Hey, sorry for showing you that... But while you're here... Could I get your autographs?"

The three supervillains each gave Spike a very surprised stare. They clearly did not see that coming. Soon, Phetlock started laughing in unexpected joy. "This is... Oh my goodness, we have fans! My life is complete!"

Pinkie Pie pulled a pen out of nowhere and passed it to the three villains. Phetlock went first, writing his alias down on the inside of the back cover. His writing was bold and gave off the aura of someone trying way too hard to make himself look important. High Heel wrote hers with a smile and then proceeded to seal her autograph with a kiss, leaving an imprint of her lips right beside her name in red lipstick while her writing was displayed in a very elegant flowery font. Long-Face then wrote his out with a very disinterested expression, his writing being sloppy and just reeking of depression. But as he looked at his own autograph, a small smile crept across his lips. "This feels...kind of good... I guess I like having fans."

Spike then looked at the signatures of the three villains and grinned excitedly. "Oh man... I've got the autographs of the real Pharaoh Phetlock, High Heel, and Long-Face! This comic book's one of a kind!"

"You better hold onto that, Spike. That's gonna be worth a fortune someday." I added while looking at the book too. "Well, this is one Nightmare Night we're not gonna forget anytime soon. Who else can say a trio of supervillains crashed our party?"

Rainbow Dash chuckled before winking at the three of them. "Hay yeah! You guys really spiced things up! It was crazy, but kinda fun too!"

However, Rarity could only cast High Heel a disdainful glare while making certain she still had a spear levitating close to her. "Just don't think you're going anywhere with my custom shoes." High Heel had no response to that aside from a nervous grin.

"So, you all ready to go?" Twilight asked while she had her magic aura billowing around her horn. Spike made sure to keep the book open to the back to insure it would work right.

"I guess so... Nothing else we can really do now that we've been arrested." Long-Face replied glumly. He was completely resigned to his failure and was showing no signs of hostility at all, much like the other two.

"Ooh, one second!" Pinkie Pie then spoke up before hanging a bag over each of their necks. She then took her overstuffed candy bag and dumped some of its contents into theirs. "A little something for the road. Think of it as thanks for making this the craziest Nightmare Night party ever!"

Long-Face could not contain a smile while he looked down at the bag's contents and inhaled its sweet scent. High Heel smiled as well while Pharaoh Phetlock grinned while letting out a suppressed chuckle. "Wow... Getting thanked for being bad guys... THAT'S new. I knew my path in life would pay off someday!"

We all started to take a step back to allow Twilight to do her thing. "All right, you guys. I'm sending you back. Just try to stay out of trouble!"

High Heel scoffed at Twilight's remark and rolled her eyes. "Heh, don't count on it. Getting into trouble is kind of our thing."

We did not get a chance to really engage in further commentary as Twilight's magic beam engulfed them all and Spike's comic book. Nightmare Moon silently disposed of the chains and shackles that were bound to High Heel and Long-Face before anything could happen. At that time, a glowing white portal like the one from a few weeks ago seemed to appear between the pages. The three supervillains did not expect what happened next. They got sucked into the pages at the same time and were gone in seconds. Once consumed by the light, Spike closed the book rather forcefully and closing the portal in the process. "Well... I guess that's that."

Nightmare Moon then spoke up while dropping the villainous facade as the audience around us burst into applause. "Well, that was an unexpected development for tonight. How are we going to explain this to Nightmare Night enthusiasts?"

"Yeah, it was. I mean seriously. REAL supervillains? Who could've seen that coming?" Rainbow Dash replied while flexing her neck. It looked like she had taken a few hits from High Heel while managing to avoid getting stabbed by the tips of her heels.

Fluttershy then meekly asked, "Um... Are you done being all scary now? I couldn't tell if you were just acting or actually being evil..."

That got a snicker out most of my friends while Nightmare Moon jestfully rolled her eyes. "Yes, it was all an act, Fluttershy. My days as that monster are long gone." But she then flashed a menacing smirk. "But that doesn't mean I can't have some fun now and then. This is the Nightmare Moon that got this whole holiday started, so why not remind them of that now and then?"

My lover was quick to cower a bit, but managed to crack an uneasy smile. "Oh! Uh... Um... Yes, I see! You... Please stop looking at me like that... It's...creepy..."

While my friends got a good laugh out of that, I noticed Celestia and Luna standing near the stage while the royal guards and the rest of Long-Face's victims were lined up in a row as baked sweet treats were being passed to them along with milk. The full effects of that sorrow gas seemed to have worn off for the most part, but they all looked really worn out from the emotional overload brought on by inhaling that gas.

I walked over to them after dismissing the ice shield on my left arm to check on the two royal sisters and caught a listen to one of the night watch guards as he spoke to Luna with a very tired voice. "My...sincerest apologies, your highness. I have no idea what came over me. One whiff of that gas and... Ugh, that was just awful... And now I've got a massive headache."

Luna could only smile at her subordinate while he still ate from the muffin he was holding while also drinking heavily from his cup to rehydrate himself after so many teas had been shed. That sweet treat was liking boosting his mood in general. "Think nothing of it, Night Flight. You and your comrades performed your duties without hesitation and that is what truly matters. Now that the threat has been dealt with, you are all dismissed to partake in the festivities. You've earned it."

"Thank you, your highness..." The night watchman replied weakly while stuffing his face with every scrap of food he was provided.

While I drew near, Celestia turned my way and greeted me with a smile. "Well, here the hero comes. Nicely done on dealing with those rogues. But where are they now? Did Nightmare Moon haul them off for some time in the dungeon?"

I shook my head and replied, "Nope. Just sent them back to where they came from. Turns out they were real supervillains right out of a comic book."

That got a weird gaze from the Princess of the Dawn. "Huh? You mean... They came FROM a comic book? How does that work?"

For the sake of not repeating myself too much, I proceeded to explain what happened earlier along with the effects of the spell infused into the book itself that provides transportation between the real world and comic book world. This got a very contemplative stare out of Celestia. "Hmm... I have heard of several occurrences of something like that... I'll need to have the royal guard look into it. Something like that certainly sounds dangerous."

"Yeah, it really could... Huh? Oh, excuse me for a minute." I then replied before noticing Eleina cradling a weeping Button Mash in her arm. After a quick goodbye and handing her the sword I had borrowed, I hurried over to the crying colt and spoke up. "Hey there, Eleina! Way to go on roughing up Long-Face back there! Nothing like the fury of one mad mom, huh?"

Eleina looked my way as I drew near and promptly giggled at my praise. "Well, I couldn't just let that scoundrel get away with making my son cry like that... Oh, Button. Everything's OK now. The bad guy is gone and the Power Ponies were victorious. Don't cry... Everything's OK."

Poor Button. Even though he was no longer wailing in sorrow, he was still sniveling and gasping with a more quiet type of crying. The sorrow gas had not yet completely run its course. I tried reaching out to my little friend and stroked his mane. "Hey... Button, it's OK now. Look at me and tell me what you see."

The sniveling colt looked at me with big wet bloodshot eyes, not unlike those of the other victims. Man, he looked exhausted. He then managed to speak to me. "Uh... Ha... Project H...right? Ugh..."

I nodded and reached out to him. "Yup. And I sent those villains packing thanks to the help of the Power Ponies. Now, how about we put a smile on that face? Excuse me, Eleina. I'll just take him for a minute."

"All right, James. Just be gentle with him, please." His mother replied before I took the crying colt into my arms.

I smirked down at Button while I felt my armor's wings spread as the folding thruster frames on my disguise's back opened up. "I know what'll make you laugh. Let's go for a ride!"

With that, I took to the air and began to soar over the moonlit rooftops of Ponyville with Button Mash in my arms. At first, he let out a startled yelp that quickly turned into joyous laughter as his sorrow was overwhelmed with exhilaration. "Wha... Whoa... Wooooow, this is tooooooo cool! Faster! Higher!"

I did not want to keep his mother waiting, so I only kept flying for a minute before returning to the town square and landing before a very relieved Eleina. And Button was quick to announce his improved mood with laughter. "Hahaha, that was awesome! Let's go again!"

Eleina grinned broadly upon seeing her son happy again. However, I then replied, "Sorry, one flight per customer... Hey, how about a photo shoot instead?"

"Oh, yes yes yes YES!!! Mom, get your camera!" Button shouted while he flailed in my arms. It was so cute to see that colt so excited after crying so much.

Eleina giggled while she reached under her cloak and pulled out what looked like an older camera. You know, those kind that take instant photos that emerge out of the front? I have not seen those being used in ages. "All right then, Button. Smile for the camera! And be sure to strike a heroic pose, James!"

"Got it! How's this?" I replied while widening my stance a bit, holding Button Mash against my chest plate with my left hand and holding the H-Buster up as if ready to take aim and fire off a shot. There was a flash of light from the camera before what was clearly a photo slid out of the front. Eleina then took it in her other hoof to watch as the image began to clear up.

I set Button Mash down and watched as he ran to his mother's side. I too followed and looked down. The image soon became clear and showed an excellent close-up shot of me holding Button in a very protective manner. "Awesome! I'm gonna get this one framed! Hey, let's go get a group shot with the Power Ponies!"

"All right, Button... Oh! Wait up! So sorry, James. Let's catch up in a little while!" Eleina then said to be before she had to go chasing after her son. Heh, cute kid. So good to see him already back to his old self.

Before long, we all gathered before the stage again with so many partygoers as the mayor began to recount the votes for costumes now that a few participants had been disqualified for obvious reasons. Nightmare Moon sidled up to me and whispered, "You'll take one of those prizes for sure."

"Me? Nah, but I bet one of my friends will be up there." I replied with my arms crossed. I was just wondering what the prizes were.

Soon, the mayor approached the podium's microphone and began to speak. "So sorry for the delay, everypony! It's not everyday somepony gets up on stage before being taken hostage by dastardly supervillains."

That got a laugh out of the crowd. At least the mayor was taking her brush with danger in stride. She then took her hat off and held up the list of votes. "Now, enough with the unwanted delays. We all know what you're wanting to hear. Time for to call out the winners of this Nightmare Night's best costumes!"

We all watched in silence while the mayor looked the list over. "All right... At third place we have... Oh, we've got a draw for this one, everypony! Taking third place is Miss Applejack as Mistress Mare-velous and Miss Rainbow Dash as Zapp!"

Rainbow Dash let out a yell of triumph while she burst out of the crowd and snatched up Applejack before swooping over to the stage and setting her friend down. Rainbow Dash then grabbed the mike and called out with her usual gusto. "Aw yeah! We all knew I'd be somewhere on this list! Whatcha gotta say to everypony, AJ?"

Applejack was much more reserved and even seemed a bit embarrassed. "Aw shucks, y'all... I wasn't expecting ta make it on the list. But I'm mighty obliged y'all thought I was worth the prize."

The crowd burst into applause while Applejack and Rainbow Dash took a bow and stepped off to the sides while the mayor took the podium again. "Now then, for second place... We have... Miss Rarity as Radiance!"

The crowd once again burst into applause as Rarity made her way around the crowd and up on stage. But once she was actually visible, most of the stallions burst into cheers and whistling. Especially when she really started to strut across the stage. I could not blame her at all. Rarity was looking hot in that outfit and she knew it. She then took the mic and spoke out to all her admirers. "Oh, it's such an honor to be called up here as one of the winners of this contest. After all, everypony knows that the gorgeous proprietor of the local Carousel Boutique is all about pulling off the best visual performance possible. Many thanks again, darlings!"

Rarity then finished up her brief speech by blowing a kiss to the audience as they thanked her with another thunderous round of applause. Leave it to that sexy mare to rile up the stallions. She then joined Applejack and Rainbow Dash off to the side while the mayor took the podium one last time. "And now... The number one spot! For first place, we have..."

The crowd waited in anxious silence while the mayor looked down at the list. Finally, she spoke up the one name I was not expecting. "For first place... We have Mr. James as Project H!"

"Wait... What?! Me?!" I shouted as the crowd burst into applause. Honestly, I did not think I pulled off my look well enough to be worth first place.

I was initially hesitant to approach the stage, but Nightmare Moon then pushed me forward with her wing. "Get up there and claim your prize, hero!"

I looked back at the Princess of Dreams and saw her flash me that proud smile of hers. Doing my best to ignore my stage fright, I managed to smile before taking flight as the crowd went nuts with cheers. I then floated forward and landed upon the stage while even my own friends applauded me. I ten turned and, just to dazzle the crowd further, pointed the H-Buster skyward and fired off three magic shots in different directions. The mayor was even applauding me as well while stepping back from the podium to let me use the microphone.

With my nervousness slowly returning, I reached down with my left hand and took the microphone into my grasp. The crowd fell silent s I cleared my throat to speak. "Uh... First... All I can say is... Wow. I really didn't think I'd make it onto the list. Let alone winning first place! So... Yeah. Thank you all... Another thing is... This is only my very second Nightmare Night and it's probably even better than the last one. It's been a pleasure being out here having fun with everyone and... Well, I'm especially glad to have Nightmare Moon herself joining us tonight. Make sure you give her a round of applause too while you're at it."

Everyone did as I requested and turned to face Nightmare Moon before providing a thunderous round of applause. She clearly was not expecting this and even seemed bashful about me directly praising her in front of so many. But I did see that thankful smile on her face as she looked right at me. And it warmed my heart. It reminded me of just how far the two of us have come together since the night we all finally brought her home.

There were prizes provided to the winners of the contest. Being the first prize winner, I got quite a bit. A trophy, a potpourri of different candy that had been collected... Actually, I suspect it was the pile left at the foot of the statue at the border of the Everfree Forest. And lastly, a 100 bit shopping spree at Rich's Barnyard Bargains. That will make for an excellent opportunity to purchase stuff Fluttershy, Scootaloo, and myself need as well as necessities for our child when it is finally born. We should be able to figure out the gender in a few weeks. Overall, a really nice haul.

I really cannot think of much else to say that can top everything else that happened. Once the costume contest ended, we all proceeded to enjoy the rest of the evening any way we could. Games, music, food... Man, I was really satisfied when we finally got home tonight. I was even feeling a bit icky from consuming too many sweets and had to consume a salad when we got home. Oh yes, and Rarity successfully returned all of those pilfered shoes of hers to her house before she could really resume partying.

Now I am just lying in bed with Fluttershy and getting this written down. Man... To coin a phrase... Oh, what a night. That is all I can say. Time to put this to bed and go to bed myself.